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Book ^lH>_ 

Copyright N°. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



PIONEER SERMONS 



AND 



ADDRESSES 



From the writings of Barton W. 
Stone, Thomas and Alexander 
Campbell, Walter Scott, John Smith, 
Wm. Hayden, Wm. Baxter, Moses 
E. Lard, Dr. A. Wliford Hall, 
Benj. Franklin and Jas. M. Mathes. 



COMPILED BY 

L. ROWE 

ASSISTED BY 

M. A. C. 



F. L. ROWE, Publisher 

CINCINNATI, OHIO 

1908 






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I 'wo Copies rt(Kto.,.. 

15-1908 

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Copyright, 1908 

BY 

F. L. ROWE 
Cincinnati, O. 



PREFACE 

Some months ago I had occasion to write to about 
twenty-five of our representative brethren, embracing 
educators, preachers, and the common people, asking 
for information about matters relating to the early- 
work of the pioneers. To my surprise, not more than 
six of the twenty-five appealed to acknowledged any 
familiarity with the early writings; in fact, not much 
knowledge of their early works as individuals. This 
discovery convinced me that something was needed. 
It occurred to me that a collection of sermons gathered 
through a period of fifty years would prove not only 
helpful to the present and future generations, but 
would familiarize our brethren, present and future, 
with the character of the sermons and addresses ut- 
tered or written by some of the pioneers of the faith. 
To this end I scanned the writings of the pioneers 
and collected the twelve sermons and addresses which 
make up this present collection. The ones included in 
this volume are only a few writings from a few of 
the early writers. It would require many volumes 
like this one to contain the valuable sermons that can 
still be collected from these pioneer works. 

It has been the aim of the compilers of this volume 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

to have the subjects of a diversified character, so that 
not only first principles would be treated but also ser- 
mons given on Christian growth and character. 

We consider the "Declaration and Address," by 
Thomas Campbell, to be a most valuable historical 
document. In connection with that address we also 
call special attention to one by Barton W. Stone, which 
antedates the Campbell address by five years, clearly 
proving that the reform work that is generally spoken 
of as the "Reformation of the Nineteenth Century," 
had its inception in the mind and conduct of Barton W. 
Stone and his followers. 

March, 1908. f. l. r. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Last Will and Testament of Springfield Presby- 
tery (1804). By Barton W. Stone 7 

Declaration and Address (1809). By Thomas 

Campbell 14 

Sermon on the Law (1816). By Alexander Camp- 
bell 105 

To the Church in America (about 1830). By Bar- 
ton W. Stone 149 

Moses and Christ (1859). By Walter Scott 163 

Address to the Disciples (1832). By John Smith. 183 

Humility (about 1845). By Wm. Hayden 193 

Christ and Nicodemus (1868). By M. E. Lard. . . 200 

Assurance (1848). By A. Wilford Hall 224 

The Love of God (1868). By Wm. Baxter 243 

The Church; Its Identity (1868). By Benjamin 

Franklin 258 

Conversion (1853). By J. M. Mathes 276 

5 



loneer oermons and/Aaaresses 



a Add 



LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF SPRING- 
FIELD PRESBYTERY. 



The Presbytery of Springfield, just before it ex- 
pired, made its last will and testament, which is quite 
a curiosity in its way. But it shows what advancement 
the Presbytery had made in the knowledge of the 
truth and the principles of reformation. For the satis- 
faction of such of our readers as may not have seen 
this remarkable document, we here insert it, together 
with the witnesses' address : 

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF SPRINGFIELD 
PRESBYTERY. 

For where a testament is, there must of necessity 

be the death of the testator ; for a testament is of force 

after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at 

all while the testator liveth. Thou fool, that which 

thou sowest is not quickened except it die. Verily, 

verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into 

the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it 

bringeth forth much fruit. Whose voice then shook 

the earth ; but now he hath promised, saying, yet once 

more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

And this word, yet once more, signifies the removing 

7 



8 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

of those things that are shaken as of things that are 
made, that those things which can not be shaken may 
remain. — Scripture. 

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, ETC. 

The Presbytery of Springfield, sitting at Cane 
Ridge, in the county of Bourbon, being, through a 
gracious Providence, in more than ordinary bodily 
health, growing in strength and size daily; and in 
perfect soundness and composure of mind; but know- 
ing that it is appointed for all delegated bodies once 
to die ; and considering that the life of every such body 
is very uncertain, do make and ordain this our last 
will and testament, in manner and form following, viz. : 
Imprimis. We will, that this body die, be dissolved, 
and sink into union with the body of Christ at large ; 
for there is but one body, and one spirit, even as we 
are called in one hope of our calling. 

Item. We will, that our name of distinction, with 
its Reverend title, be forgotten, that there be but one 
Lord over God's heritage, and his name one. 

Item. We will, that our power of making laws for 
the government of the church, and executing them by 
delegated authority, forever cease ; that the people may 
have free course to the Bible, and adopt the law of 
the spirit of life in Jesus Christ. 

Item. We zi'ill, that candidates for the gospel min- 
istry henceforth study the Holy Scriptures with fer- 
vent prayer, and obtain license from God to preach the 
simple gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent down from 
heaven, without any mixture of philosophy, vain de- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 9 

ceit, traditions of men, or the rudiments of the world. 
And let none henceforth take this honor to himself, 
but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 

Item. We will, that the Church of Christ resume 
her native right of internal government, try her candi- 
dates for the ministry, as to their soundness in the 
faith, acquaintance with experimental religion, gravity 
and aptness to teach; and admit no other proof of 
their authority but Christ speaking in them. We will, 
that the Church of Christ look up to the Lord of the 
harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest; and 
that she resume her primitive right of trying those 
who say they are apostles and are not. 

Item. We will, that each particular church, as a 
body, actuated by the same spirit, choose her own 
preacher and support him by a free-will offering, with- 
out a written call or subscription, admit members, 
remove offenses ; and never henceforth delegate her 
right of government to any man or set of men what- 
ever. 

Item. We will, that the people henceforth take the 
Bible as the only sure guide to heaven; and as many 
as are offended with other books, which stand in com- 
petition with it, may cast them into the fire if they 
choose; for it is better to enter into life having one 
book, than having many to be cast into hell. 

Item. We will, that preachers and people cultivate 
a spirit of mutual forbearance ; pray more and dispute 
less; and while they behold the signs of the times, 
look up, and confidently expect that redemption draw- 
eth nigh. 



10 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

Item. We will, that our weak brethren, who may 
have been wishing to make the Presbytery of Spring- 
field their king, and wot not what is now become of 
it, betake themselves to the Rock of Ages, and follow 
Jesus for the future. 

Item. We will, that the Synod of Kentucky ex- 
amine every member who may be suspected of having 
departed from the Confession of Faith, and suspend 
every such suspected heretic immediately, in order that 
the oppressed may go free, and taste the sweets of 
gospel liberty. 

Item. We will, that Ja , the author of 

two letters lately published in Lexington, be encour- 
aged in his zeal to destroy partyism. We will, more- 
over, that our past conduct be examined into by all 
who may have correct information; but let foreigners 
beware of speaking evil of things which they know 
not. 

Item. Finally, we will, that all our sister bodies 
read their Bibles carefully, that they may see their 
fate there determined, and prepare for death before it 
is too late. 

Springfield Presbytery, 



June 28th, 1804. 



Robert Marshall, 
John Dunlavy, 
Richard McNemar, 
B. W. Stone, 
John Thompson, 
David Purviance, 



Witnesses. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 11 



THE WITNESSES' ADDRESS. 

We, the above named witnesses of the Last Will and 
Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, knowing that 
there will be many conjectures respecting the causes 
which have occasioned the dissolution of that body, 
think proper to testify, that from its first existence it 
was knit together in love, lived in peace and concord, 
and died a voluntary and happy death. 

Their reasons for dissolving that body were the fol- 
lowing : With deep concern they viewed the divisions 
and party spirit among professing Christians, princi- 
pally owing to the adoption of human creeds and 
forms of government. While they were united under 
the name of a Presbytery, they endeavored to cultivate 
a spirit of love and unity with all Christians, but found 
it extremely difficult to suppress the idea that they 
themselves were a party separate from others. This 
difficulty increased in proportion to their success in 
the ministry. Jealousies were excited in the minds of 
other denominations ; and a temptation was laid before 
those who were connected with the various parties to 
view them in the same light. At their last meeting 
they undertook to prepare for the press a piece entitled, 
"Observations on Church Government," in which the 
world will see the beautiful simplicity of Christian 
church government, stript of human inventions and 
lordly traditions. 

As they proceeded in the investigation of that sub- 
ject, they soon found that there was neither precept nor 
example in the New Testament for such confederacies 



12 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

as modern Church Sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, Gen- 
eral Assemblies, etc. Hence they concluded that while 
they continued in the connection in which they then 
stood, they were off the foundation of the Apostles and 
the Prophets, of which Christ himself is the chief 
corner-stone. However just, therefore, their views of 
church government might have been, they would have 
gone out under the name and sanction of a self-con- 
stituted body. Therefore, from a principle of love to 
Christians of every name, the precious cause of Jesus, 
and dying sinners who are kept from the Lord by the 
existence of sects and parties in the church, they have 
cheerfully consented to retire from the din and fury of 
conflicting parties — sink out of the view of fleshy 
minds, and die the death. They believe their death will 
be great gain to the world. But though dead, as above, 
and stript of their mortal frame which only served 
to keep them too near the confines of Egyptian bond- 
age, they yet live and speak in the land of gospel 
liberty ; they blow the trumpet of jubilee, and willingly 
devote themselves to the help of the Lord against the 
mighty. They will aid the brethren, by their counsel, 
when required; assist in ordaining elders or pastors, 
seek the divine blessing, unite with all Christians, 
commune together, and strengthen each others' hands 
in the work of the Lord. 

We design, by the grace of God, to continue in the 
exercise of those functions which belong to us as min- 
isters of the gospel, confidently trusting in the Lord, 
that he will be with us. We candidly acknowledge, 
that in some things we may err, through human in- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 13 

firmity; but he will correct our wanderings and pre- 
serve his church. Let all Christians join with us, in 
crying to God day and night, to remove the obstacles 
which stand in the way of his work, and give him no 
rest till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. We 
heartily unite with our Christian brethren of every 
name, in thanksgiving to God for the display of his 
goodness in the glorious work he is carrying on in 
our western country, which we hope will terminate in 
the universal spread of the gospel. 

Thus far the witnesses of the last will and testa- 
ment of the Springfield Presbytery. 

Why the work alluded to above, on the subject of 
church government, never made its appearance, the 
writer is not advised. Perhaps the Shaker difficulty, 
which shortly after this time arose, was the cause, as 
it is known that Dunlavy and McNemar, two of the 
witnesses, were carried away with that miserable de- 
lusion ; and also, that shortly after their defection from 
the cause, Marshall and Thompson began to look back, 
and subsequently joined the Presbyterians again. 



DECLARATION AND ADDRESS. 

OF THE 

Christian Association of Washington, Penn. 
(Published A. D. 1809.) 



Thomas Campbell was born in County Down, Ireland, Feb- 
ruary 1, 1763. Came to America in 1807. Died January 4, 1854. 

[At a meeting held at Buffalo, August 17, 1809, consisting of 
persons of different religious denominations, most of them in an 
unsettled state as to a fixed Gospel ministry, it was unanimously 
agreed, upon the considerations, and for the purposes hereinafter 
declared, to form themselves into a religious association, desig- 
nated as above, which they accordingly did, and appointed 
twenty-one of their number to meet and confer together, and, 
with the assistance of Elder Thomas Campbell, minister of the 
Gospel, to determine upon the proper means to carry into effect 
the important ends of their Association ; the result of which con- 
ference was the following Declaration and Address, agreed upon 
and ordered to be printed at the expense, and for the benefit of 
the society. — September 7, 1809. 

DECLARATION, Etc.* 

From the series of events which have taken place in 
the Churches for many years past, especially in this 
Western country, as well as from what we know in 
general of the present state of things in the Christian 
world, we are persuaded that it is high time for us 

* This "Declaration and Address" was not the constitution of 
any Church existing then or now, but a "Declaration" of a pur- 
pose to institute a society of "Voluntary Advocates for Church 

14 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 15 

not only to think, but also to act, for ourselves; to 
see with our own eyes, and to take all our measures 
directly and immediately from the Divine Standard; 
to this alone we feel ourselves Divinely bound to be 
conformed, as by this alone we must be judged. We 
are also persuaded that as no man can be judged for 
his brother, so no man can judge for his brother; 
every man must be allowed to judge for himself, as 
every man must bear his own judgment — must give 
account of himself to God. We are also of opinion 
that as the Divine word is equally binding upon all, 
so all lie under an equal obligation to be bound by it, 
and it alone; and not by any human interpretation 
of it; and that, therefore, no man has a right to 
judge his brother, except in so far as he manifestly 
violates the express letter of the law. That every 
such judgment is an express violation of the law of 
Christ, a daring usurpation of his throne, and a gross 
intrusion upon the rights and liberties of his subjects. 
We are, therefore, of opinion that we should beware 
of such things; that we should keep at the utmost 
distance from everything of this nature; and that, 
knowing the judgment of God against them that com- 
mit such things, we should neither do the same our- 



Reformation." Its sole purpose was to promote "simple Evan- 
gelical Christianity," and for this end resolved to countenance 
and support such ministers, and such only, as exhibited a manifest 
conformity to the original standard, in conversation, doctrine, zeal, 
and diligence; such as practiced that original simple form of 
Christianity expressly exhibited upon the sacred page; without 
inculcating anything of human authority, of private opinion or of 
inventions of men, as having any place in the constitution, faith, 
or worship of the Christian Church ; or anything as matter of 
Christian faith or duty for which there cannot be expressly pro- 
duced a "Thus saith the Lord, cither in express terms, or by 
approved precedent." 



16 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

selves, nor take pleasure in them that do them. More- 
over, being well aware, from sad experience, of the 
heinous nature and pernicious tendency of religious 
controversy among Christians ; tired and sick of the bit- 
ter jarrings and j anglings of a party spirit, we would 
desire to be at rest; and, were it possible, we would 
also desire to adopt and recommend such measures 
as would give rest to our brethren throughout all the 
Churches : as would restore unity, peace, and purity 
to the whole Church of God. This desirable rest, 
however, we utterly despair either to find for our- 
selves, or to be able to recommend to our brethren, 
by continuing amid the diversity and rancor of party 
contentions, the veering uncertainty and clashings of 
human opinions : nor, indeed, can we reasonably ex- 
pect to find it anywhere but in Christ and his simple 
word, which is the same yesterday, to-day, and for- 
ever. Our desire, therefore, for ourselves and our 
brethren would be, that, rejecting human opinions 
and the inventions of men as of any authority, or as 
having any place in the Church of God, we might for- 
ever cease from further contentions about such things ; 
returning to and holding fast by the original standard ; 
taking the Divine word alone for our rule; the Holy 
Spirit for our teacher and guide, to lead us into all 
truth; and Christ alone, as exhibited in the word, 
for our salvation; that, by so doing, we may be at 
peace among ourselves, follow peace with all men, 
and holiness, without which no man shall see the 
Lord. Impressed with these sentiments, we have re- 
solved as follows : 

I. That we form ourselves into a religious associa- 
tion under the denomination of the Christian Associa- 
tion of Washington, for the sole purpose of promot- 
ing simple evangelical Christianity, free from all mix- 
ture of human opinions and inventions of men. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 17 

II. That each member, according to ability, cheer- 
fully and liberally subscribe a certain specified sum, to 
be paid half yearly, for the purpose of raising a fund 
to support a pure Gospel ministry, that shall reduce 
to practice that whole form of doctrine, worship, dis- 
cipline, and government, expressly revealed and en- 
joined in the word of God. And, also, for supplying 
the poor with the holy Scriptures. 

III. That this Society consider it a duty, and shall 
use all proper means in its power, to encourage the 
formation of similar associations; and shall for this 
purpose hold itself in readiness, upon application, to 
correspond with, and render all possible assistance to, 
such as may desire to associate for the same desirable 
and important purposes. 

IV. That this Society by no means considers itself 
a Church, nor does at all assume to itself the powers 
peculiar to such a society; nor do the members, as 
such, consider themselves as standing connected in 
that relation ; nor as at all associated for the peculiar 
purposes of Church association ; but merely as volun- 
tary advocates for Church reformation; and, as pos- 
sessing the powers common to all individuals, who 
may please to associate in a peaceable and orderly man- 
ner, for any lawful purpose, namely, the disposal of 
their time, counsel, and property, as they may see 
cause. 

V. That this Society, formed for the sole purpose 
of promoting simple evangelical Christianity, shall, 
to the utmost of its power, countenance and support 
such ministers, and such only, as exhibit a manifest 
conformity to the original standard in conversation 
and doctrine, in zeal and diligence; only such as 
reduce to practice that simple original form of Chris- 
tianity, expressly exhibited upon the sacred page ; with- 
out attempting to inculcate anything of human author- 



18 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ity, of private opinion, or inventions of men, as hav- 
ing any place in the constitution, faith, or worship, 
of the Christian Church, or anything as matter of 
Christian faith or duty, for which there can not be 
expressly produced a 'Thus saith the Lord, either in 
express terms, or by approved precedent."* 

VI. That a Standing Committee of twenty-one 
members of unexceptionable moral character, inclusive 
of the secretary and treasurer, be chosen annually to 
superintend the interests, and transact the business of 



* On reading the proof-sheets of this "Declaration," as they is- 
sued from the press immediately after my arrival in Washington, 
Pennsylvania, direct from Scotland, I observed to its author: 
"Then, sir, you must abandon and give up infant baptism, and 
some other practices for which it seems to me you can not pro- 
duce an express precept or an example in any book of the Chris- 
tian Scriptures." 

After a considerable pause, his response was to this effect : 
"To the Jaw and to the testimony" we make our appeal. If not 
found therein, we, of course, must abandon it. But," he added, 
"we could not unchurch ourselves now, and go out into the 
world and then turn back again and enter the church, merely for 
the sake of form or decorum. 

"But," we replied, "if there be any virtue, privilege, or blessing 
in submitting to any ordinance, of course we can not enjoy that 
virtue, privilege, or blessing whatever it may be, of which it is 
an ordained, a Divinely-appointed instrumentality or medium. 
'Without faith it is impossible to please God' in any act, or in 
any formal obedience to any precept, ordinance, or institution; 
and equally true that without this faith we can not enjoy any act 
of obedience to either a moral, a positive, or a religious ordinance 
of any class whatever. There is a promised reward, or, rather, 
an immediate blessing attendant on every act of obedience to the 
Divine precepts ; and, as you have taught, 'the blessings attached 
to, or connected with the moral positive, are superior to those 
connected with the moral negative.' And, as for an assent to an 
opinion, there is no virtue in it." 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 19 

the Society. And that said Committee be invested 
with full powers to act and do, in the name and be- 
half of their constituents, whatever the Society had 
previously determined, for the purpose of carrying into 
effect the entire object of its institution, and that 
in case of any emergency, unprovided for in the exist- 
ing determinations of the Society, said Committee be 
empowered to call a special meeting for that purpose. 

VII. That this Society meet at least twice a year, 
viz. : on the first Thursday of May and of November, 
and that the collectors appointed to receive the half- 
yearly quotas of the promised subscriptions, be in 
readiness, at or before each meeting, to make their 
returns to the treasurer, that he may be able to report 
upon the state of the funds. The next meeting to 
be held at Washington on the first Thursday of No- 
vember next. 

VIII. That each meeting of the Society be opened 
with a sermon, the constitution and address read, and 
a collection lifted for the benefit of the Society; and 
that all communications of a public nature be laid 
before the Society at its half-yearly meetings. 

IX. That this Society, relying upon the all-suffici- 
ency of the Church's Head; and, through his grace, 
looking with an eye of confidence to the generous 
liberality of the sincere friends of genuine Christian- 
ity, holds itself engaged to afford a competent sup- 
port to such ministers as the Lord may graciously 
dispose to assist, at the request, and by invitation 
of the Society, in promoting a pure evangelical ref- 
ormation, by the simple preaching of the everlasting 
Gospel, and the administration of its ordinances in an 
exact conformity to the Divine standard as aforesaid; 
and that, therefore, whatever the friends of the in- 
stitution shall please to contribute toward the support 



20 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

of ministers in connection with this Society, who may 
be sent forth to preach at considerable distances, the 
same shall be gratefully received and acknowledged 
as a donation to its funds. 



ADDRESS, Etc. 

To all that love our Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity throughout 
all the Churches, the following Address is most respectfully 
submitted. 

Dearly Beloved Brethren : 

That it is the grand design and native tendency of 
our holy religion to reconcile and unite men to God, 
and to each other, in truth and love, to the glory of 
God, and their own present and eternal good, will 
not, we presume, be denied by any of the genuine 
subjects of Christianity. The nativity of its Divine 
author was announced from heaven, by an host of 
angels, with high acclamations of "Glory to God in 
the highest, and on earth peace and good-will toward 
men." The whole tenor of that Divine book which 
contains its institutes, in all its gracious declarations, 
precepts, ordinances, and holy examples, most express- 
ively and powerfully inculcates this. In so far, then, 
as this holy unity and unanimity in faith and love is 
attained, just in the same degree is the glory of God 
and the happiness of men promoted and secured. Im- 
pressed with those sentiments, and, at the same time, 
grievously affected with those sad divisions which 
have so awfully interfered with the benign and gra- 
cious intention of our holy religion, by exciting its 
professed subjects to bite and devour one another, we 
can not suppose ourselves justifiable in withholding 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 21 

the mite of our sincere and humble endeavors to heal 
and remove them. 

What awful and distressing effects have those sad 
divisions produced ! what aversions, what reproaches, 
what backbitings, what evil surmisings, what angry 
contentions, what enmities, what excommunications, 
and even persecution ! ! ! And, indeed, this must, in 
some measure, continue to be the case so long as those 
schisms exist; for, saith the apostle, where envying 
and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 
What dreary effects of those accursed divisions are to 
be seen, even in this highly favored country, where 
the sword of the civil magistrate has not as yet learn- 
ed to serve at the altar. Have we not seen congrega- 
tions broken to pieces, neighborhoods of professing 
Christians first thrown into confusion by party con- 
tentions, and, in the end, entirely deprived of Gospel 
ordinances; while in the meantime, large settle- 
ments and tracts of country remain to this day entirely 
destitute of a Gospel ministry, many of them in little 
better than a state of heathenism, the Churches being 
either so weakened with divisions that they can not 
send them ministers, or the people so divided among 
themselves that they will not receive them. Several, 
at the same time, who live at the door of a preached 
Gospel, dare not in conscience go to hear it, and, of 
course, enjoy little more advantage, in that respect, 
than if living in the midst of heathens. How seldom 
do many in those circumstances enjoy the dispensa- 
tions of the Lord's Supper, that great ordinance of 
unity and love. How sadly, also, does this broken 
and confused state of things interfere with that spirit- 
ual intercourse among Christians, one with another, 
which is so essential to their edification and comfort, 
in the midst of a present evil world; so divided in 
sentiment, and, of course, living at such distances, 



22 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

that but few of the same opinion,* or party, can con- 
veniently and frequently assemble for religious pur- 
poses, or enjoy a due frequency of ministerial atten- 



* "Opinions" were, in those days, and even yet are very popu- 
lar in the pulpits and in the presses of religious sectaries of all 
the denominational religions of the living world. Yet the word 
"opinion" is not once found in the Christian Scriptures, nor 
even in the Jewish records, except once by Elijah, in a case 
pending between the worshipers of Baal and those of Jehovah. 
No man ever believed an opinion or a doctrine! He may assent 
to them, but to believe an opinion or a doctrine is simply absurd. 

The discriminating reason has to do with opinions. They are 
tried by reasoning upon them, pro or con. Hence, they are 
debatable alone in the court of reason. But faith has to do with 
testimony, as hope has to do with a promise and fear with a 
threatening. We believe, when reported, well authenticated facts 
and events. We hope in promises believed. We fear and 
tremble at threat enings enunciated. We obey precepts when 
propounded, and not before, and only when they emanate from 
legitimate authority. 

Such is a practical view of the constitution of the human mind, 
as God created it. And such is the well-authenticated meaning of 
these words in the currency of those who properly appreciate 
and understand our language. 

The corrupt language of Ashdod has fearfully invaded the pul- 
pit and the press of the living world. It is well illustrated by 
Nehemiah, chapter xii, in his history of the Jewish captivity. One 
passage will suffice : "In those days also, I saw Jews who had 
married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab. And their 
children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak 
in the Jewish language; but, according to the language of each 
people." "And," says Nehemiah the reformer, "I contended with 
them and reviled them." 

Babylon the great, is the antitype of old Babylon. And most 
Protestants that have come out of her still speak, and preach, 
and teach in a mixed and confused dialect. 

No one of Elder Campbell's cotemporaries known to me more 
earnestly contended and labored than he for "a pure speech," a 
Scriptural dialect, or the calling of Bible themes by Bible names. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 23 

tions. And even where things are in a better state 
with respect to settled Churches, how is the tone of 



"The restoration of a pure speech" was with him a cardinal 
theme, and a petition in many a prayer. 

How many debates, schisms, and alienations of heart and life 
have grown out of "the articles of faith," or "the doctrines" of 
the present generation. "Doctrines," like "articles of faith," are 
wholly uncanonical. In the Christian Scriptures we never read 
of the "doctrines of Christ." It is always singular, never plural, 
"Doctrines," like "articles of faith," are unprecedented in the 
New Testament, except in the case of demons, and those under 
their influence. And how many more in the generations past and 
gone ! According to the apostolic style the Christian faith is 
called "The doctrine of Christ," and all other faiths or theories 
are called "the doctrines of men," or "of demons." 

There is a pride of opinion more subtile, and more permeating 
the religious world than is generally supposed or imagined. A 
zeal wholly sectarian and selfish is more easily detected in others 
than in ourselves. Our premises and our observations of the 
religious world, for at least one-half a century, more than justify 
this opinion. 

The strength or spiritual pozver of the apostolic Gospel is now, 
has been heretofore, and will till time shall end, continue to be, 
"the power of God to salvation," to every one who clearly appre- 
ciates and embraces it in his affections, and consequently acts in 
harmony with its spiritual and eternal obligations. Indeed, we 
can not conceive of higher claims and demand on the heart, the 
life, the devotion of man to his Creator and Redeemer, than are 
found in the doctrine of Christ, duly appreciated and cordially 
embraced. 

It presents to us transcendent facts to be believed, precepts to 
be obeyed, threatenings to be feared, promises to be hoped for, 
and an ineffably beautiful person and character to be loved, ad- 
mired, and adored. It effectually addresses all the rudimental 
elements and cravings of our nature, and ministers to them all ; 
as light to the eye, mi^sjp. to the ear, peace to the conscience, and 
joy to the heart, so it meets an4 provides for every rational, 
moral, and religious appetency of our nature in all its conditions 
and circumstances. It- is; indeed, infinitely worthy of God to be 
the author of it, and of man to be the subject and the object of it. 
I * 



24 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

discipline relaxed under the influence of a party spirit ; 
many being afraid to exercise it with due strictness, 
lest their people should leave them, and, under the 
cloak of some specious pretense, find refuge in the 
bosom of another party; while, lamentable to be 
told, so corrupted is the Church with those accursed 
divisions, that there are but few so base as not to find 
admission into some professing party or other. Thus, 
in a great measure, is that Scriptural purity of com- 
munion banished from the Church of God, upon the 
due preservation of which much of her comfort, glory, 
and usefulness depends. To complete the dread result 
of our woful divisions, one evil yet remains, of a very 
awful nature : the Divine displeasure justly provoked 
with this sad perversion of the Gospel of peace, the 
Lord withholds his gracious influential presence from 
his ordinances, and not unfrequently gives up the 
contentious authors and abettors of religious discord 
to fall into grievous scandals, or visits them with 
judgments, as he did the house of Eli. Thus, while 
professing Christians bite and devour one another, 
they are consumed one of another, or fall a prey to 
the righteous judgments of God; meantime, the truly 
religious of all parties are grieved, the weak stumbled, 
the graceless and profane hardened, the mouths of 
infidels opened to blaspheme religion, and thus the 
only thing under heaven divinely efficacious to pro- 
mote and secure the present spiritual and eternal good 
of man, even the Gospel of the blessed Jesus, is re- 
duced to contempt, while multitudes, deprived of a 
Gospel ministry, as has been observed, fall an easy 
prey to seducers, and so become the dupes of almost 
unheard-of delusions. Are not such the visible effects 
of our sad divisions, even in this otherwise happy 
country. Say, dear brethren, are not these things so ? 
Is it not then your incumbent duty to endeavor, by all 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 25 

Scriptural means, to have those evils remedied. Who 
will say that it is not? And does it not peculiarly 
belong to you, who occupy the place of Gospel min- 
isters, to be leaders in this laudable undertaking? 
Much depends upon your hearty concurrence and 
zealous endeavors. The favorable opportunity which 
Divine Providence has put into your hands, in this 
happy country, for the accomplishment of so great a 
good, is, in itself, a consideration of no small en- 
couragement. A country happily exempted from the 
baneful influence of a civil establishment of any pe- 
culiar form of Christianity ; from under the direct in- 
fluence of the antichristian hierarchy; and, at the 
same time, from any formal connection with the de- 
voted nations that have given their strength and pow- 
er unto the beast; in which, of course, no adequate 
reformation ' can be accomplished, until the word of 
God be fulfilled, and the vials of his wrath poured out 
upon them. Happy exemption, indeed, from being 
the object of such awful judgments. Still more happy 
will it be for us if we duly esteem and improve those 
great advantages, for the high and valuable ends for 
which they are manifestly given, and sure where much 
is given, much also will be required. Can the Lord 
expect, or require, anything less from a people in such 
unhampered circumstances — from a people so liberally 
furnished with all means and mercies, than a thorough 
reformation in all things, civil and religious, accord- 
ing to his word? Why should we suppose it? And 
would not such an improvement of our precious priv- 
ileges be equally conducive to the glory of God, and 
our own present and everlasting good? The auspic- 
ious phenomena of the times furnish collateral argu- 
ments of a very encouraging nature, that our dutiful 
and pious endeavors shall not be in vain in the Lord. 
Is it not the day of the Lord's vengeance upon the 



26 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

antichristian world — the year of recompenses for the 
controversy of Zion? Surely, then, the time to favor 
her is come; even the set time. And is it not said 
that Zion shall be built in troublous times ? Have not 
greater efforts been made, and more done, for the pro- 
mulgation of the Gospel among the nations, since the 
commencement of the French revolution, than had 
been for many centuries prior to that event? And 
have not the Churches, both in Europe and America, 
since that period, discovered a more than usual con- 
cern for the removal of contentions, for the healing 
of divisions, for the restoration of a Christian and 
brotherly intercourse one with another, and for the 
promotion of each other's spiritual good, as the print- 
ed documents upon those subjects amply testify? 
Should we not, then, be excited by these considera- 
tions to concur with all our might, to help forward 
this good work; that what yet remains to be done, 
may be fully accomplished. And what though the 
well-meant endeavors after union have not, in some 
instances, entirely succeeded to the wish of all parties, 
should this dissuade us from the attempt! Indeed, 
should Christians cease to contend earnestly for the 
sacred articles of faith and duty once delivered to the 
saints, on account of the opposition and scanty success 
which, in many instances, attend their faithful and 
honest endeavors, the Divine cause of truth and 
righteousness might have long ago been relinquished. 
And is there anything more formidable in the Goliath 
schism, than in many other evils which Christians 
have to combat? Or, has the Captain of Salvation 
sounded a desist from pursuing, or proclaimed a truce 
with this deadly enemy that is sheathing its sword in 
the very bowels of his Church, rending and mangling 
his mystical body into pieces? Has he said to his 
servants, Let it alone? If not, where is the warrant 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 27 

for a cessation of endeavors to have it removed? On 
the other hand, are we not the better instructed by 
sage experience, how to proceed in this business, hav- 
ing before our eyes the inadvertencies and mistakes of 
others, which have hitherto, in many instances, pre- 
vented the desired success? Thus taught by exper- 
ience, and happily furnished with the accumulated in- 
structions of those that have gone before us, earnestly 
laboring in this good cause, let us take unto ourselves 
the whole armor of God, and, having our feet shod 
with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, let us 
stand fast by this important duty with all persever- 
ance. Let none that love the peace of Zion be dis- 
couraged, much less offended, because that an object 
of such magnitude does not, in the first instance, come 
forth recommended by the express suffrage of the 
mighty or the many. This consideration, if duly 
weighed, will neither give offense, nor yield dis- 
couragement to any one that considers the nature of 
the thing in question in connection with what has been 
already suggested. Is it not a matter of universal 
right, a duty equally belonging to every citizen of 
Zion, to seek her good? In this respect, no one can 
claim a preference above his fellows, as to any pe- 
culiar, much less exclusive obligation. And, as for 
authority, it can have no place in this business; for, 
surely, none can suppose themselves invested with a 
Divine right, as to anything peculiarly belonging to 
them, to call the attention of their brethren to this 
dutiful and important undertaking. For our part, we 
entertain no such arrogant presumption; nor are we 
inclined to impute the thought to any of our brethren, 
that this good work should be let alone till such time 
as they may think proper to come forward and sanc- 
tion the attempt, by their invitation and example. It 



28 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

is an open field, an extensive work, to which all are 
equally welcome, equally invited. 

Should we speak of competency, viewing the great- 
ness of the object, and the manifold difficulties which 
lie in the way of its accomplishment, we would readily 
exclaim, with the apostle, Who is sufficient for these 
things? But, upon recollecting ourselves, neither 
would we be discouraged ; persuaded with him, that, 
as the work in which we are engaged, so, likewise, 
our sufficiency is of God. But, after all, both the 
mighty and the many are with us. The Lord himself, 
and all that are truly his people, are declaredly on our 
side. The prayers of all the Churches, nay, the pray- 
ers of Christ himself, (John xvii: 20, 23,) and of all 
that have ascended to his heavenly kingdom, are with 
us. The blessing out of Zion is pronounced upon our 
undertaking. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they 
shall prosper that love thee." With such encourage- 
ments as these, what should deter us from the heaven- 
ly enterprise, or render hopeless the attempt of ac- 
complishing, in due time, an entire union of all the 
Churches in faith and practice, according to the word 
of God? Not that we judge ourselves competent to 
effect such a thing ; we utterly disclaim the thought ; 
but we judge it our bounden duty to make the attempt, 
by using all due means in our power to promote it; 
and also, that we have sufficient reason to rest assured 
that our humble and well-meant endeavors shall not 
be in vain in the Lord. 

The cause that we advocate is not our own peculiar 
cause, nor the cause of any party, considered as such ; 
it is a common cause, the cause of Christ and our 
brethren of all denominations. All that we presume, 
then, is to do what we humbly conceive to be our duty, 
in connection with our brethren; to each of whom 
it equally belongs, as to us, to exert himself for this 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 29 

blessed purpose. And as we have no just reason to 
doubt the concurrence of our brethren to accomplish 
an object so desirable in itself, and fraught with such 
happy consequences, so neither can we look forward 
to that happy event which will forever put an end to 
our hapless divisions, and restore to the Church its 
primitive unity, purity, and prosperity, but in the 
pleasing prospect of their hearty and dutiful concur- 
rence. 

Dearly beloved brethren, why should we deem it a 
thing incredible that the Church of Christ, in this 
highly favored country, should resume that original 
unity, peace, and purity which belongs to its consti- 
tution, and constitutes its glory? Or, is there any- 
thing that can be justly deemed necessary for this de- 
sirable purpose, both to conform to the model and 
adopt the practice of the primitive Church, expressly 
exhibited in the New Testament? Whatever altera- 
tions this might produce in any or in all of the 
Churches, should, we think, neither be deemed in- 
admissible nor ineligible. Surely such- alteration 
would be every way for the better, and not for the 
worse, unless we should suppose the divinely-inspired 
rule to be faulty, or defective. Were we, then, in our 
Church constitution and managements, to exhibit a 
complete conformity to the apostolic Church, would 
we not be, in that respect, as perfect as Christ intend- 
ed we should be ? And should not this suffice us ? 

It is, to us, a pleasing consideration that all the 
Churches of Christ which mutually acknowledge each 
other as such, are not only agreed in the great doc- 
trines of faith and holiness, but are also materially 
agreed as to the positive ordinances of Gospel institu- 
tion; so that our differences, at most, are about the 
things in which the kingdom of God does not consist', 
that is, about matters of private opinion or human 



30 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

invention. What a pity that the kingdom of God 
should be divided about such things! Who, then, 
would not be the first among us to give up human in- 
ventions in the worship of God, and to cease from im- 
posing his private opinions upon his brethren, that our 
breaches might thus be healed ? Who would not will- 
ingly conform to the original pattern laid down in the 
New Testament, for this happy purpose? Our dear 
brethren of all denominations will please to consider 
that we have our educational prejudices and particular 
customs to struggle against as well as they. But this 
we do sincerely declare, that there is nothing we have 
hitherto received as matter of faith or practice which 
is not expressly taught and enjoined in the word of 
God, either in express terms or approved precedent, 
that we would not heartily relinquish, that so we 
might return to the original constitutional unity of 
the Christian Church; and, in this happy unity, en- 
joy full communion with all our brethren, in peace 
and charity. The like dutiful condescension we can- 
didly expect of all that are seriously impressed with a 
sense of the duty they owe to God, to each other, 
and to their perishing brethren of mankind. To this 
we call, we invite, our brethren of all denominations, 
by all the sacred motives which we have avouched as 
the impulsive reasons of our thus addressing them. 

You are all, dear brethren, equally included as the 
objects of our love and esteem. With you all we 
desire to unite in the bonds of an entire Christian 
unity — Christ alone being the head, the center, his 
word the rule; an explicit belief of, and manifest con- 
formity to it, in all things — the terms. More than 
this, you will not require of us; and less we can 
not require of you; nor, indeed, can we reasonably 
suppose any would desire it, for what good purpose 
would it serve? We dare neither assume nor propose 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 31 

the trite indefinite distinction between essentials and 
non-essentials, in matters of revealed truth and duty; 
firmly persuaded, that, whatever may be their com- 
parative importance, simply considered, the high ob- 
ligation of the Divine authority revealing, or enjoin- 
ing them, renders the belief or performance of them 
absolutely essential to us, in so far as we know them. 
And to be ignorant of anything God has revealed, 
can neither be our duty nor our privilege. We humbly 
presume, then, dear brethren, you can have no rele- 
vant objection to meeting us upon this ground. And, 
we again beseech you, let it be known that it is the 
invitation of but few ; by your accession we shall be 
many; and whether few or many, in the first in- 
stance, it is all one with respect to the event which 
must ultimately await the full information and hearty 
concurrence of all. Besides, whatever is to be done, 
must begin, some time, somewhere; and no matter 
where, nor by whom, if the Lord puts his hand to the 
work, it must surely prosper. And has he not been 
graciously pleased, upon many signal occasions, to 
bring to pass the greatest events from very small be- 
ginnings, and even by means the most unlikely. Duty 
then is ours ; but events belong to God. 

We hope, then, what we urge will neither be deemed 
an unreasonable nor an unseasonable undertaking. 
Why should it be thought unseasonable? Can any 
time be assigned, while things continue as they are, 
that would prove more favorable for such an attempt, 
or what could be supposed to make it so? Might it 
be the approximation of parties to a greater nearness, 
in point of public profession and similarity of customs ? 
Or might it be expected from a gradual decline of 
bigotry? As to the former, it is a well-known fact, 
that where the difference is least, the opposition is al- 
ways managed with a degree of vehemence inversely 



32 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

proportioned to the merits of the cause. With respect 
to the latter, though we are happy to say, that in some 
cases and places, and, we hope, universally, bigotry is 
upon the decline; yet we are not warranted, either 
by the past or present, to act upon that supposition. 
We have, as yet, by this means seen no such effect 
produced; nor indeed could we reasonably expect it; 
for there will always be multitudes of weak persons 
in the Church, and these are generally most subject 
to bigotry; add to this, that while divisions exist, 
there will always be found interested men who will 
not fail to support him; nor can we at all suppose 
that Satan will be idle to improve an advantage so 
important to the interests of his kingdom. And, let 
it be further observed upon the whole, that, in matters 
of similar importance to our secular interests, we 
would by no means content ourselves with such kind 
of reasoning. We might further add, that the attempt 
here suggested not being of a partial, but of general 
nature, it can have no just tendency to excite the 
jealousy, or hurt the feelings of any party. On the 
contrary, every effort toward a permanent Scriptural 
unity among the Churches, upon the solid basis of 
universally acknowledged and self-evident truths, 
must have the happiest tendency to enlighten and con- 
ciliate, by thus manifesting to each other their mutual 
charity and zeal for the truth : "Whom I love in the 
truth," saith the apostle, "and not I only, but also all 
they that have known the truth ; for the truth's sake, 
which is in us, and shall be with us forever." Indeed, 
if no such Divine and adequate basis of union can be 
fairly exhibited as will meet the approbation of every 
upright and intelligent Christian, nor such mode of 
procedure adopted in favor of the weak as will not 
oppress their consciences, then the accomplishment of 
this grand object upon principle must be forever im- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 33 

possible. There would, upon this supposition, remain 
no other way of accomplishing it but merely by vol- 
untary compromise, and good-natured accommoda- 
tion. That such a thing, however, will be accomplish- 
ed, one way or other, will not be questioned by any 
that allow themselves to believe that the commands 
and prayers of our Lord Jesus Christ will not utterly 
prove ineffectual. Whatever way, then, it is to be 
effected, whether upon the solid basis of Divinely- 
revealed truth, or the good-natured principle of Chris- 
tian forbearance and gracious condescension, is it not 
equally practicable, equally eligible to us, as ever it 
can be to any; unless we should suppose ourselves 
destitute of that Christian temper and discernment 
which is essentially necessary to qualify us to do the 
will of our gracious Redeemer, whose express com- 
mand to his people is, that there be "no divisions 
among them ; but that they all walk by the same rule, 
speak the same thing, and be perfectly joined together 
in the same mind, and in the same judgment?" We 
believe then it is as practicable as it is eligible. Let 
us attempt it. "Up, and be doing, and the Lord will 
be with us." 

Are we not all praying for that happy event, when 
there shall be but one fold, as there is but one chief 
Shepherd? What! shall we pray for a thing, and 
not strive to obtain it ! ! not use the necessary means 
to have it accomplished ! ! What said the Lord to 
Moses upon a piece of conduct somewhat similar? 
"Why criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children 
of Israel that they go forward, but lift, thou up thy 
rod, and stretch out thine hand." Let the ministers 
of Jesus but embrace this exhortation, put their hand 
to the work, and encourage the people to go forward 
upon the firm ground of obvious truth, to unite in the 
bonds of an entire Christian unity; and who will 



34 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

venture to say that it would not soon be accomplish- 
ed ? "Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up 
the stumbling-block out of the way of my people," 
saith your God. To you, therefore, it peculiarly be- 
longs, as the professed and acknowledged leaders of 
the people, to go before them in this good work, to 
remove human opinions and the inventions of men 
out of the way, by carefully separating this chaff from 
the pure wheat of primary and authentic revelation; 
casting out that assumed authority, that enacting and 
decreeing power by which those things have been im- 
posed and established. To the ministerial department, 
then, do we look with anxiety. Ministers of Jesus, 
you can neither be ignorant of nor unaffected with the 
divisions and corruptions of his Church. His dying 
commands, his last and ardent prayers for the visible 
unity of his professing people, will not suffer you to 
be indifferent in this matter. You will not, you can 
not, therefore, be silent upon a subject of such vast 
importance to his personal glory and the happiness 
of his people — consistently you can not; for silence 
gives consent. You will rather lift up your voice like 
a trumpet to expose the heinous nature and dreadful 
consequences of those unnatural and antichristian di- 
visions, which have so rent and ruined the Church of 
God. Thus, in justice to your station and character, 
honored of the Lord, would we hopefully anticipate 
your zealous and faithful efforts to heal the breaches 
of Zion; that God's dear children might dwell to- 
gether in unity and love; but if otherwise * * * we 
forbear to utter it. (See Mai. ii: 1-10.) 

Oh, that ministers and people would but consider 
that there are no divisions in the grave, nor in that 
world which lies beyond it ! there our divisions must 
come to an end ! we must all unite there ! Would to 
God we could find in our hearts to put an end to our 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 35 

short-lived divisions here; that so we might leave a 
blessing behind us ; even a happy and united Church. 
What gratification, what utility, in the mean time, can 
our divisions afford either to ministers or people? 
Should they be perpetuated till the day of judgment, 
would they convert one sinner from the error of his 
ways, or save a soul from death ? Have they any ten- 
dency to hide the multitude of sins that are so dis- 
honorable to God, and hurtful to his people? Do 
they not rather irritate and produce them? How in- 
numerable and highly aggravated are the sins they 
have produced, and are at this day producing, both 
among professors and profane. We entreat, we be- 
seech you then, dear brethren, by all those considera- 
tions, to concur in this blessed and dutiful attempt. 
What is the work of all, must be done by all. Such was 
the work of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Such 
is the work to which you are called, not by the author- 
ity of man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, 
who raised him from the dead. By this authority are 
you called to raise up the tabernacle of David, that 
is fallen down among us, and to set it up upon its own 
base. This you can not do, while you run every man 
to his own house, and consult only the interests of his 
own party. Until you associate, consult, and advise 
together, and in a friendly and Christian manner ex- 
plore the subject, nothing can be done. We would 
therefore, with all due deference and submission, call 
the attention of our brethren to the obvious and im- 
portant duty of association. Unite with us in the 
common cause of simple evangelical Christianity; in 
this glorious cause we are ready to unite with you. 
United we shall prevail. It is the cause of Christ, and 
of our brethren throughout all the Churches, of 
catholic unity, peace, and purity; a cause that must 
finally prosper in spite of all opposition. Let us unite 



36 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

to promote it. Come forward, then, dear brethren, 
and help with us. Do not suffer yourselves to be lulled 
asleep by that siren song of the slothful and reluctant 
professor : "The time is not yet come, the time is 
not come, saith he; the time that the Lord's house 
should be built." Believe him not. Do ye not discern 
the signs of the times? Have not the two witnesses 
arisen from their state of political death, from under 
the long proscription of ages? Have they not stood 
upon their feet, in the presence, and to the consterna- 
tion and terror of their enemies? Has not their res- 
urrection been accompanied with a great earthquake? 
Has not the tenth part of the great city been thrown 
down by it? Has not this event aroused the nations 
to indignation? Have they not been angry, yea, very 
angry? Therefore, O Lord, is thy wrath come upon 
them, and the time of the dead that they should be 
avenged, and that thou shouldst give reward to thy 
servants the prophets, and to them that fear thy name, 
both small and great; and that thou shouldst destroy 
them that have destroyed the earth. Who among us 
has not heard the report of these things, of these 
lightnings and thunderings and voices; of this tre- 
mendous earthquake and great hail; of these awful 
convulsions and revolutions that have dashed and are 
dashing to pieces the nations, like a potter's vessel? 
Yea, have not the remote vibrations of this dreadful 
shock been felt even by us, whom God has graciously 
placed at so great a distance? 

What shall we say to these things? Is it time for 
us to sit still in our corruptions and divisions, when 
the Lord, by his word and providence, is so loudly 
and expressly calling us to repentance and reforma- 
tion? "Awake, awake ; put on thy strength, O Zion, 
put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy 
city; for henceforth there shall no more come unto 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 37 

thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thy- 
self from the dust, O Jerusalem; arise, loose thyself 
from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of 
Zion." Resume that precious, that dear-bought lib- 
erty, wherewith Christ has made his people free; a 
liberty from subjection to any authority but his own, 
in matters of religion. Call no man father, no man 
master on earth ; for one is your master, even Christ, 
and all ye are brethren. Stand fast, therefore, in this 
precious liberty, and be not entangled again with the 
yoke of bondage. For the vindication of this precious 
liberty have we declared ourselves hearty and willing 
advocates. For this benign and dutiful purpose have 
we associated, that by so doing we might contribute 
the mite of our humble endeavors to promote it, and 
thus invite our brethren to do the same. As the first- 
fruits of our efforts for this blessed purpose we re- 
spectfully present to their consideration the following 
propositions, relying upon their charity and candor 
that they will neither despise nor misconstrue our 
humble and adventurous attempt. If they should in 
any measure serve, as a perliminary, to open up the 
way to a permanent Scriptural unity among the 
friends and lovers of truth and peace throughout the 
Churches, we shall greatly rejoice at it. We by no 
means pretend to dictate, and could we propose any- 
thing more evident, consistent, and adequate, it should 
be at their service. Their pious and dutiful attention 
to an object of such magnitude will induce them to 
communicate to us their emendations ; and thus what 
is sown in weakness will be raised up in power. For 
certainly the collective graces that are. conferred upon 
the Church, if duly united and brought to bear upon 
any point of commanded duty, would be amply suffi- 
cient for the right and successful performance of it. 
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; 



38 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the 
discerning of spirits: but the manifestation of the 
Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. As 
every man, therefore, hath received the gift, even so 
minister the same one to another as good stewards of 
the manifold grace of God." In the face, then, of 
such instructions, and with such assurances of an all- 
sufficiency of Divine grace, as the Church has received 
from her exalted Head, we can neither justly doubt 
the concurrence of her genuine members; nor yet 
their ability, when dutifully acting together, to ac- 
complish anything that is necessary for his glory and 
their own good; and certainly their visible unity in 
truth and holiness, in faith and love, is, of all things, 
the most conducive to both these, if we may credit 
the dying commands and prayers of our gracious 
Lord. In a matter, therefore, of such confessed im- 
portance, our Christian brethren, however unhappily 
distinguished by party names, will not, can not, with- 
hold their helping hand. We are as heartily willing 
to be their debtors, as they are indispensably bound to 
be our benefactors. Come, then, dear brethren, we 
most humbly beseech you, cause your light to shine 
upon our weak beginnings, that we may see to work 
by it. Evince your zeal for the glory of Christ, and 
the spiritual welfare of your fellow-Christians, by 
your hearty and zealous co-operation to promote the 
unity, purity, and prosperity of his Church. 

Let none imagine that the subjoined propositions 
are at all intended as an overture toward a new creed 
or standard for the Church, or as in any wise designed 
to be made a term of communion; nothing can be 
further from our intention. They are merely designed 
for opening up the way, that we may come fairly and 
firmly to original ground upon clear and certain pre- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 39 

mises, and take up things just as the apostles left them; 
that thus disentangled from the accruing embarrass- 
ments of intervening ages, we may stand with evi- 
dence upon the same ground on which the Church 
stood at the beginning. Having said so much to solicit 
attention and prevent mistake, we submit as follows : 

Prop. 1. That the Church of Christ upon earth is 
essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; 
consisting of all those in every place that profess their 
faith in Christ and obedience to him and in all things 
according to the Scriptures, and that manifest the 
same by their tempers and conduct, and of none else; 
as none else can be truly and properly called Chris- 
tians. 

2. That although the Church of Christ upon earth 
must necessarily exist in particular and distinct 
societies, locally separate one from another, yet there 
ought to be no schism, no uncharitable divisions 
among them. They ought to receive each other as 
Christ Jesus hath also received them, to the glory of 
God. And for this purpose they ought all to walk 
by the same rule, to mind and speak the same thing; 
and to be perfectly joined together in the same mind, 
and in the same judgment. 

3. That in order to this, nothing ought to be in- 
culcated upon Christians as articles of faith; nor 
required of them as terms of communion, but what is 
expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the word 
of God. Nor ought anything to be admitted, as of 
Divine obligation, in their Church constitution and 
managements, but what is expressly enjoined by the 
authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles 
upon the new Testament Church; either in express 
terms or by approved precedent. 

4. That although the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testaments are inseparably connected, making 



40 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

together but one perfect and entire revelation of the 
Divine will, for the edification and salvation of the 
Church, and therefore in that respect can not be sep- 
arated; yet as to what directly and properly belongs 
to their immediate object, the New Testament is as 
perfect a constitution for the worship, discipline, and 
government of the New Testament Church, and as 
perfect a rule for the particular duties of its members, 
as the Old Testament was for the worship, discipline, 
and government of the Old Testament Church, and 
the particular duties of its members. 

5. That with respect to the commands and ordi- 
nances of our Lord Jesus Christ, where the Scriptures 
are silent as to the express time or manner of perform- 
ance, if any such there be, no human authority has 
power to interfere, in order to supply the supposed 
deficiency by making laws for the Church; nor can 
anything more be required of Christians in such cases, 
but only that they so observe these commands and 
ordinances as will evidently answer the declared and 
obvious end of their institution. Much less has any 
human authority power to impose new commands or 
ordinances upon the Church, which our Lord Jesus 
Christ has not enjoined. Nothing ought to be re- 
ceived into the faith or worship of the Church, or be 
made a term of communion among Christians, that 
is not as old as the New Testament. 

6. That although inferences and deductions from 
Scripture premises, when fairly inferred, may be truly 
called the doctrine of God's holy word, yet are they 
not formally binding upon the consciences of Chris- 
tians further than they perceive the connection, and 
evidently see that they are so; for their faith must 
not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power and 
veracity of God. Therefore, no such deductions can 
be made terms of communion, but do properly belong 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 41 

to the after and progressive edification of the Church. 
Hence, it is evident that no such deductions or infer- 
ential truths ought to have any place in the Church's 
confession. 

7. That although doctrinal exhibitions of the great 
system of Divine truths, and defensive testimonies in 
opposition to prevailing errors, be highly expedient, 
and the more full and explicit they be for those pur- 
poses, the better, yet, as these must be in a great 
measure the effect of human reasoning, and of course 
must contain many inferential truths, they ought not 
to be made terms of Christian communion ; unless we 
suppose, what is contrary to fact, that none have a 
right to the communion of the Church but such as 
possess a very clear and decisive judgment, or are 
come to a very high degree of doctrinal information; 
whereas the Church from the beginning did, and ever 
will, consist of little children and young men, as well 
as fathers. 

8. That as it is not necessary that persons should 
have a particular knowledge or distinct apprehension 
of all Divinely-revealed truths in order to entitle them 
to a place in the Church; neither should they, for 
this purpose, be required to make a profession more 
extensive than their knowledge ; but that, on the con- 
trary, their having a due measure of Scriptural self- 
knowledge respecting their lost and perishing condi- 
tion, by nature and practice, and of the way of 
salvation through Jesus Christ, accompanied with a 
profession of their faith in and obedience to him, in all 
things, according to his word, is all that is absolutely 
necessary to qualify them for admission into his 
Church. 

9. That all that are enabled through grace to make 
such a profession, and to manifest the reality of it in 
their tempers and conduct, should consider each other 



42 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

as the precious saints of God, should love each other as 
brethren, children of the same family and Father, 
temples of the same Spirit, members of the same 
body, subjects of the same grace, objects of the same 
Divine love, bought with the same price, and joint- 
heirs of the same inheritance. Whom God hath thus 
joined together no man should dare to put asunder. 

10. That division among the Christians is a horrid 
evil, fraught with many evils. It is antichristian, as 
it destroys the visible unity of the body of Christ; as 
if he were divided against himself, excluding and ex- 
communicating a part of himself. It is antiscriptural, 
as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority; 
a direct violation of his express command. It is anti- 
natural, as it excites Christians to contemn, to hate, 
and oppose one another, who are bound by the highest 
and most endearing obligations to love each other as 
brethren, even as Christ has loved them. In a word, 
it is productive of confusion and of every evil work. 

11. That (in some instances) a partial neglect of 
the expressly revealed will of God, and (in others) an 
assumed authority for making the approbation of 
human opinions and human inventions a term of com- 
munion, by introducing them into the constitution, 
faith, or worship of the Church, are, and have been, 
the immediate, obvious, and universally-acknowledged 
causes of all the corruptions and divisions that ever 
have taken place in the Church of God. 

12. That all that is necessary to the highest state 
of perfection and purity of the Church upon earth is, 
first, that none be received as members but such as 
having that due measure of Scriptural self-knowledge 
described above, do profess their faith in Christ and 
obedience to him in all things according to the Scrip- 
tures ; nor, secondly, that any be retained in her com- 
munion longer than they continue to manifest the 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 43 

reality of their profession by their temper and conduct. 
Thirdly, that her ministers, duly and Scripturally 
qualified, inculcate none other things than those very 
articles of faith and holiness expressly revealed and 
enjoined in the word of God. Lastly, that in all their 
administrations they keep close by the observance of 
all Divine ordinances, after the example of the primi- 
tive Church, exhibited in the New Testament; with- 
out any additions whatsoever of human opinions or 
inventions of men. 

13. Lastly. That if any circumstantials indispen- 
sable necessary to the observance of Divine ordinances 
be not found upon the page of express revelation, 
such, and such only, as are absolutely necessary for 
this purpose should be adopted under the title of 
human expedients, without any pretense to a more 
sacred origin, so that any subsequent alteration or 
difference in the observance of these things might 
produce no contention nor division in the Church. 

From the nature and construction of these proposi- 
tions, it will evidently appear, that they are laid in a 
designed subserviency to the declared end of our as- 
sociation; and are exhibited for the express purpose 
of performing a duty of previous necessity, a duty 
loudly called for in existing circumstances at the hand 
of every one that would desire to promote the interests 
of Zion; a duty not only enjoined, as has been al- 
ready observed from Isaiah lvii : 14, but which is also 
there predicted of the faithful remnant as a thing in 
which they would voluntarily engage. "He that put- 
teth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall 
inherit my holy mountain ; and shall say, Cast ye up, 
cast ye up, prepare the way; take up the stumbling- 
block out of the way of my people." To prepare the 
way for a permanent Scriptural unity among Chris- 
tians, by calling up to their consideration fundamental 



44 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

truths, directing their attention to first principles, 
clearing the way before them by removing the stum- 
bling-blocks — the rubbish of ages, which has been 
thrown upon it, and fencing it on each side, that in 
advancing toward the desired object they may not 
miss the way through mistake or inadvertency, by 
turning aside to the right hand or to the left — is, at 
least, the sincere intention of the above propositions. 
It remains with our brethren now to say how far they 
go toward answering this intention. Do they exhibit 
truths demonstrably evident in the light of Scripture 
and right reasoning, so that to deny any part of them 
the contrary assertion would be manifestly absurd and 
inadmissible ? Considered as a preliminary for the above 
purpose, are they adequate, so that if acted upon, they 
would infallibly lead to the desired issue ? If evident- 
ly defective in either of these respects, let them be cor- 
rected and amended, till they become sufficiently evi- 
dent, adequate, and unexceptionable. In the meantime 
let them be examined with rigor, with all the rigor 
that justice, candor, and charity will admit. If we 
have mistaken the way, we shall be glad to be set 
right ; but if, in the mean time, we have been happily 
led to suggest obvious and undeniable truths, which, 
if adopted and acted upon, would infallibly lead to the 
desired unity, and secure it when obtained, we hope 
it will be no objection that they have not proceeded 
from a General Council. It is not the voice of the 
multitude, but the voice of truth, that has power with 
the conscience, that can produce rational conviction 
and acceptable obedience. A conscience that awaits 
the decision of the multitude, that hangs in suspense 
for the casting vote of the majority, is a fit subject 
for the man of sin. This, we are persuaded, is the 
uniform sentiment of real Christians of every denom- 
ination. Would to God that all professors were 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 45 

such; then should our eyes soon behold the prosperity 
of Zion; we should soon see Jerusalem a quiet habi- 
tation. Union in truth has been, and ever must be, 
the desire and prayer of all such; "Union in truth" 
is our motto. The Divine word is our standard; in 
the Lord's name do we display our banners. Our eyes 
are upon the promises, "So shall they fear the name 
of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the ris- 
ing of the sun." "When the enemy shall come in like 
a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard 
against him." Our humble desire is to be his standard- 
bearers, to fight under his banner, and with his weap- 
ons, "which are not carnal, but mighty through God 
to the pulling down of strongholds;" even all these 
strongholds of division, those partition walls of sep- 
aration, which, like the walls of Jericho, have been 
built up, as it were, to the very heavens, to separate 
God's people, to divide his flock and so to prevent 
them from entering into their promised rest, at least 
in so far as it respects this world. An enemy hath 
done this, but he shall not finally prevail; "for the 
meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight them- 
selves in the abundance of peace." "And the kingdom 
and dominion, even the greatness of the kingdom 
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people 
of the saints of the Most High, and they shall possess 
it forever." But this can not be in their present bro- 
ken and divided state; "for a kingdom or a house di- 
vided against itself can not stand; but cometh to 
desolation." Now this has been the case with the 
Church for a long time. However, "the Lord will 
not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his herit- 
age; but judgment shall return unto righteousness, 
and all the upright in heart shall follow it." To all 
such, and such alone, are our expectations directed. 
Come, then, ye blessed of the Lord, we have your 



46 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

prayers, let us also have your actual assistance. What, 
shall we pray for a thing and not strive to obtain it ! 

We call, we invite you again, by every consideration 
in these premises. You that are near, associate with 
us; you that are at too great a distance, associate as 
we have done. Let not the paucity of your number 
in any given district prove an insuperable discourage- 
ment. Remember Him that has said, "If two of you 
shall agree on earth as touching anything that they 
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who 
is in heaven: for where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
With such a promise as this, for the attainment of 
every possible and promised good, there is no room 
for discouragement. Come on then, "ye that fear the 
Lord; keep not silence, and give him no rest till he 
make Jerusalem a joy and a praise in the earth/' Put 
on that noble resolution dictated by the prophet, say- 
ing, "For Zion's sake will we not hold our peace, and 
for Jerusalem's sake we will not rest, until the right- 
eousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salva- 
tion thereof as a lamp that burnetii." Thus impressed, 
you will find means to associate at such convenient 
distances as to meet at least once a month, to beseech 
the Lord to put an end to our lamentable divisions; 
to heal and unite his people, that his Church may re- 
sume her original constitutional unity and purity, and 
thus be exalted to the enjoyment of her promised 
prosperity, that the Jews may be speedily converted, 
and the fullness of the Gentiles brought in. Thus 
associated, you will be in a capacity to investigate the 
evil causes of our sad divisions; to consider and be- 
wail their pernicious effects ; and to mourn over them 
before the Lord — who hath said: "I will go and re- 
turn to my place, till they acknowledge their offense 
and seek my face." Alas! then, what reasonable 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 47 

prospect can we have of being delivered from those 
sad calamities, which have so long afflicted the Church 
of God ; while a party spirit, instead of bewailing, is 
everywhere justifying, the bitter principle of these 
pernicious evils; by insisting upon the right of re- 
jecting those, however unexceptionable in other re- 
spects, who can not see with them in matters of private 
opinion, of human inference, that are nowhere ex- 
pressly revealed or enjoined in the word of God. 
Thus associated, will the friends of peace, the advo- 
cates for Christian unity, be in a capacity to connect in 
larger circles, where several of those smaller societies 
may meet semi-annually at a convenient center; and 
thus avail themselves of their combined exertions for 
promoting the interests of the common cause. We 
hope that many of the Lord's ministers in all places 
will volunteer in this service, forasmuch as they know 
it is his favorite work, the very desire of his soul. 

You lovers of Jesus, and beloved of him, however 
scattered in this cloudy and dark day, you love the 
truth as it is in Jesus; (if our hearts deceive us not) 
so do we. You desire union in Christ with all them 
that love him; so do we. You lament and bewail 
our sad divisions ; so do we. You reject the doctrines 
and commandments of men, that you may keep the 
law of Christ; so do we. You believe the alone 
sufficiency of his word; so do we. You believe that 
the word itself ought to be our rule, and not any 
human explication of it ; so do we. You believe that 
no man has a right to judge, to exclude, or reject his 
professing Christian brother, except in so far as he 
stands condemned or rejected by the express letter of 
the law; so do we. You believe that the great fun- 
damental law of unity and love ought not to be violated 
to make way for exalting human opinions to an equal- 
ity with express revelation, by making them articles 



48 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

of faith and terms of communion; so do we. You 
sincere and impartial followers of Jesus, friends of 
truth and peace, we dare not, we can not think other- 
wise of you; it would be doing violence to your 
character; it would be inconsistent with your pray- 
ers and profession so to do. We shall therefore have 
your hearty concurrence. But if any of our dear 
brethren, from whom we should expect better things, 
should, through weakness or prejudice, be in anything 
otherwise minded than we have ventured to suppose, 
we charitably hope that, in due time, God will reveal 
even this unto them; only let such neither refuse to 
come to the light, nor yet, through prejudice, reject it 
when it shines upon them. Let them rather seriously 
consider what we have thus most seriously and re- 
spectfully submitted to their consideration; weigh 
every sentiment in the balance of the sanctuary, as in 
the sight of God, with earnest prayer for, and humble 
reliance upon, his Spirit, and not in the spirit of self- 
sufficiency and party zeal; and, in so doing, we rest 
assured, the consequence will be happy, both for their 
own and the Church's peace. Let none imagine, that 
in so saying, we arrogate to ourselves a degree of 
intelligence superior to our brethren; much less su- 
perior to mistake. So far from this, our confidence is 
entirely founded upon the express Scripture and mat- 
ter-of-fact evidence of the things referred to; which 
may, nevertheless, through inattention or prejudice, 
fail to produce their proper effect, as has been the case 
with respect to some of the most evident truths, in a 
thousand instances. But charity thinketh no evil; and 
we are far from surmising, though we must speak. 
To warn, even against possible evils, is certainly no 
breach of charity, as to be confident of the certainty 
of some things is no just argument of presumption. 
We by no means claim the approbation of our breth- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 49 

ren as to anything we have suggested for promoting 
the sacred cause of Christian unity, further than it 
carries its own evidence along with it ; but we humbly 
claim a fair investigation of the subject, and solicit 
the assistance of our brethren in carrying into effect 
what we have thus weakly, attempted. It is our con- 
solation, in the mean time, that the desired event, as 
certain as it will be happy and glorious, admits of no 
dispute, however we may hesitate or differ about the 
proper means of promoting it. All we shall venture 
to say as to this is, that we trust we have taken the 
proper ground; at least, if we have not, we despair 
of finding it elsewhere. For, if holding fast in profes- 
sion and practice whatever is expressly revealed and 
enjoined in the Divine standard does not, under the 
promised influence of the Divine Spirit, prove an 
adequate basis for promoting and maintaining unity, 
peace, and purity, we utterly despair of attaining those 
invaluable privileges by adopting the standard of any 
party. To advocate the cause of unity, while espous- 
ing the interests of a party, would appear as absurd 
as for this country to take part with either of the bel- 
ligerents in the present awful struggle, which has con- 
vulsed and is convulsing the nations, in order to main- 
tain her neutrality and secure her peace. Nay, it 
would be adopting the very means by which the be- 
wildered Church has, for hundreds of years past, been 
rending and dividing herself into factions, for Christ's 
sake, and for the truth's sake; though the first and 
foundation truth of our Christianity is union with 
him, and the very next to it in order, union with 
each other in him — "that we receive each other, as 
Christ has also received us, to the glory of God." 
"For this is his commandment: That we believe in 
his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave 
us commandment. And he that keepeth his command- 



50 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ments dwelleth in him, and he in him; and hereby 
we know that he dwelleth in us, by the Spirit which 
he hath given us," even the spirit of faith, and of 
love, and of a sound mind. And surely this should 
suffice us. But how to love and receive our brother, 
as we believe and hope Christ has received both him 
and us, and yet refuse to hold communion with him, 
is, we confess, a mystery too deep for us. If this be 
the way that Christ hath received us, then woe is unto 
us. We do not here intend a professed brother trans- 
gressing the express letter of the law, and refusing to 
be reclaimed. Whatever may be our charity in such a 
case, we have not sufficient evidence that Christ has 
received him, or that he has received Christ as his 
teacher and Lord. To adopt means, then, apparently 
subversive of the very end proposed, means which the 
experience of ages has evinced successful only in over- 
throwing the visible interests of Christianity, in coun- 
teracting, as far as possible, the declared intention, the 
express command of its Divine author, would appear 
in no wise a prudent measure for removing and pre- 
venting those evils. To maintain unity and purity has 
always been the plausible pretense of the compilers 
and abettors of human systems, and we believe, in 
many instances, their sincere intention ; but have they 
at all answered the end? Confessedly, demonstrably, 
they have not; no, not even in the several parties 
which have most strictly adopted them; much less 
to the catholic professing body. Instead of her cath- 
olic constitutional unity and purity, what does the 
Church present us with, at this day, but a catalogue 
of sects and sectarian systems — each binding its re- 
spective party, by the most sacred and solemn engage- 
ments, to continue as it is to the end of the world ; at 
least, this is confessedly the case with many of them. 
What a sorry substitute these for Christian unity and 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 51 

love! On the other hand, what a mercy is it that no 
human obligation that man can come under is valid 
against the truth. When the Lord the healer descends 
upon his people, to give them a discovery of the na- 
ture and tendency of those artificial bonds wherewith 
they have suffered themselves to be bound in their dark 
and sleepy condition, they will no more be able to 
hold them in a state of sectarian bondage than the 
withes and cords with which the Philistines bound 
Samson were able to retain him their prisoner, or than 
the bonds of Antichrist were to hold in captivity 
the fathers of the Reformation. May the Lord soon 
open the eyes of his people to see things in their true 
light, and excite them to come up out of their wilder- 
ness condition, out of this Babel of confusion, leaning 
upon their Beloved, and embracing each other in him, 
holding fast the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
peace. This gracious unity and unanimity in Jesus 
would afford the best external evidence of their union 
with him, and of their conjoint interest in the Father's 
love. "By this shall all men know that you are my 
disciples," says he, "if you have love one to another." 
And "This is my commandment, That you love one 
another as I have loved you ; that you also love one 
another." And again, "Holy Father, keep through 
thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that 
they may be one, as we are ;" even "all that shall be- 
lieve in me; that they all may be one; as thou, 
Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may 
be one in us : that the world may believe that thou 
hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me, 
I have given them; that they may be one, even as 
we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they 
may be made perfect in one ; and that the world may 
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as 



52 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

thou hast loved me." May the Lord hasten it in his 
time. Farewell. 

Peace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity. Amen. Thomas Campbell, 

Thomas Acheson. 

APPENDIX. 

To prevent mistakes, we beg leave to subjoin the 
following explanations. As to what we have done, 
our reasons for so doing, and the grand object we 
would desire to see accomplished, all these, we pre- 
sume, are sufficiently declared in the foregoing pages. 
As to what we intend to do in our associate capacity, 
and the ground we have taken in that capacity, though 
expressly and definitely declared, yet these, perhaps, 
might be liable to some misconstruction. First, then, 
we beg leave to assure our brethren that we have no 
intention to interfere, either directly or indirectly, with 
the peace and order of the settled Churches, by direct- 
ing any ministerial assistance with which the Lord 
may please to favor us, to make inroads upon such; 
or by endeavoring to erect Churches out of Churches, 
to distract and divide congregations. We have no 
nostrum, no peculiar discovery of our own to propose 
to fellow-Christians, for the fancied importance of 
which they should become followers of us. We pro- 
pose to patronize nothing but the inculcation of the ex- 
press word of God, either as to matter of faith or 
practice; but every one that has a Bible, and can 
read it, can read this for himself. Therefore, we have 
nothing new. Neither do we pretend to acknowledge 
persons to be ministers of Christ, and, at the same 
time, consider it our duty to forbid or discourage 
people to go to hear them, merely because they may 
hold some things disagreeable to us ; much less to en- 
courage their people to leave them on that account. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 53 

And such do we esteem all who preach a free, uncon- 
ditional* salvation through the blood of Jesus to per- 
ishing sinners of every description, and who mani- 
festly connect with this a life of holiness and pastoral 
diligence in the performance of all the duties of their 
sacred office, according to the Scriptures, of even 
all of whom, as to all appearance, it may be truly 
said to the objects of their charge: "They seek not 
yours, but you." May the good Lord prosper all 
such, by whatever name they are called, and hasten 
that happy period when Zion's watchmen shall see 
eye to eye, and all be called by the same name. Such, 
then, have nothing to fear from our association, were 
our resources equal to our utmost wishes. But all 
others we esteem as hirelings, as idle shepherds, and 



* "Unconditional" salvation. There is neither conditional nor 
unconditional salvation so designated in holy Scripture. As 
respects procurement, there is no condition. It is of grace. But, 
like life and health, there are conditions of enjoyment. We could 
not procure, merit, or purchase it at any price. But when justi- 
fied by faith and not by works, sanctified by the Spirit, or sepa- 
rated from the world, we are commanded to give "all diligence 
to make our calling and election sure." 

There are means of spiritual life and health, as well as means of 
temporal or animal life and health. The latter are not more nec- 
essary than the former. God's whole universe is one great 
system of means and ends — physical, intellectual, moral, and relig- 
ious. The means and the ends are alike of Divine institution, 
and are, therefore, inseparable. 

The word means is found in the common version of the Chris- 
tian Scriptures, only twenty-one times. Two-thirds of these are 
found in Paul's writings. Poos or cipoos — "how," or by what 
means — are equivalent terms. The how case and the why case 
are quite dissimilar. The why case demands the cause. The how 
case demands the means. Our English dictionaries authenticate 
these distinctions. They are, however, frequently unheeded in 
the pulpit and in the press. 



54 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

should be glad to see the Lord's flock delivered from 
their mouth, according to his promise. Our principal 
and proper design, then, with respect to ministerial 
assistants, such as we have described in our fifth res- 
olution, is to direct their attention to those places 
where there is manifest need for their labors; and 
many such places there are; would to God it were 
in our power to supply them. As to creeds and con- 
fessions, although we may appear to our brethren to 
oppose them, yet this is to be understood only in so 
far as they oppose the unity of the Church, by con- 
taining sentiments not expressly revealed in the word 
of God; or, by the way of using them, become the 
instruments of a human or implicit faith, or oppress 
the weak of God's heritage. Where they are liable 
to none of those objections, we have nothing against 
them. It is the abuse and not the lawful use of such 
compilations that we oppose. See Proposition 7. 
Our intention, therefore, with respect to all the 
Churches of Christ is perfectly amicable. We heartily 
wish their reformation, but by no means their hurt or 
confusion. Should any affect to say that our coming 
forward as we have done, in advancing and publish- 
ing such things, has a manifest tendency to distract 
and divide the Churches, or to make a new party, we 
treat it as a confident and groundless assertion, and 
must suppose they have not duly considered, or, at 
least, not well understood the subject. 

All we shall say to this at present, is, that if the 
Divine word be not the standard of a party, then are 
we not a party, for we have adopted no other. If to 
maintain its alone sufficiency be not a party principle, 
then are we not a party. If to justify this principle 
by our practice, in making a rule of it, and of it alone, 
and not of our own opinions, nor of those of others, 
be not a party principle, then are we not a party. If 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 55 

to propose and practice neither more nor less than it 
expressly reveals and enjoins be not a partial business, 
then are we not a party. These are the very senti- 
ments we have approved and recommended, as a society 
formed for the express purpose of promoting Chris- 
tian unity, in opposition to a party spirit. Should any 
tell us that to do these things is impossible without 
the intervention of human reason and opinion, we 
humbly thank them for the discovery. But who ever 
thought otherwise? Were we not rational subjects, 
and of course capable of understanding and forming 
opinions, would it not evidently appear that, to us, rev- 
elation of any kind would be quite useless, even sup- 
posing it as evident as 'mathematics? We pretend not, 
therefore, to divest ourselves of reason, that we may 
become quiet, inoffensive, and peaceable Christians; 
nor yet, of any of its proper and legitimate operations 
upon Divinely-revealed truths. We only pretend to 
assert, what every one that pretends to reason must 
acknowledge, namely, that there is a manifest distinc- 
tion between an express Scripture declaration, and 
the conclusion or inference which may be deduced 
from it; and that the former may be clearly under- 
stood, even where the latter is but imperfectly if at all 
perceived ; and that we are at least as certain of the 
declaration as we can be of the conclusion we draw 
from it ; and that, after all, the conclusion ought not 
to be exalted above the premises, so as to make void 
the declaration for the sake of establishing our own 
conclusion; and that, therefore, the express com- 
mands to preserve and maintain inviolate Christian 
unity and love, ought not to be set aside to make way 
for exalting our inferences above the express authority 
of God. Our inference, upon the whole, is, that where 
a professing Christian brother opposes or refuses noth- 
ing either in faith or practice for which there can be 



56 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

expressly produced a "Thus saith the Lord," that we 
ought not to reject him because he can not see with 
our eyes as to matters of human inference, of private 
judgment. "Through thy knowledge shall the weak 
brother perish? How walkest thou not charitably?" 
Thus we reason, thus we conclude, to make no con- 
clusion of our own, nor of any other fallible fellow- 
creature, a rule of faith or duty to our brother. 
Whether we refuse reason, then, or abuse it, in our 
so doing, let our brethren judge. But, after all, we 
have only ventured to suggest what, in other words, 
the apostle has expressly taught; namely, that the 
strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, 
and not to please themselves; that we ought to re- 
ceive him that is weak in the faith, because God has 
received him. In a word, that we ought to receive 
one another, as Christ hath also received us to the 
glory of God. We dare not, therefore, patronize the 
rejection of God's dear children, because they may not 
be able to see alike in matters of human inference — 
of private opinion; and such we esteem all things 
not expressly revealed and enjoined in the word of 
God. If otherwise, we know not what private opinion 
means. On the other hand, should our peaceful and 
affectionate overture for union in truth prove offen- 
sive to any of our brethren, or occasion distrubances in 
any of the Churches, the blame can not be attached 
to us. We have only ventured to persuade, and, if 
possible, to excite to the performance of an important 
duty — a duty equally incumbent upon us all. Neither 
have we pretended to dictate to them what they should 
do. We have only proposed what appeared to us most 
likely to promote the desired event, humbly submitting 
the whole premises to their candid and impartial in- 
vestigation, to be altered, corrected, and amended, as 
they see cause, or to adopt any other plan that may 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 57 

appear more just and unexceptionable. As for our- 
selves, we have taken all due care, in the mean time, 
to take no step that might throw a stumbling-block in 
the way, that might prove now, or at any future pe- 
riod, a barrier to prevent the accomplishment of that 
most desirable object, either by joining to support a 
party, or by patronizing anything as articles of faith 
or duty not expressly enjoined in the Divine standard; 
as we are sure, whatever alterations may take place, 
that will stand. That considerable alterations must 
and will take place, in the standards of all the sects, 
before that glorious object can be accomplished, no 
man, that duly considers the matter, can possibly 
doubt. In so far, then, we have at least endeavored 
to act consistently; and with the same consistency 
would desire to be instrumental in erecting as many 
Churches as possible throughout the desolate places of 
God's heritage, upon the same catholic foundation, 
being well persuaded that every such erection will 
not only in the issue prove an accession to the general 
cause, but will also, in the mean time, be a step toward 
it, and, of course, will reap the first-fruits of that 
blissful harvest that will fill the face of the world with 
fruit. For if the first Christian Churches, walking in 
the fear of the Lord in holy unity and unanimity, en- 
joyed the comforts of the Holy Spirit, and were in- 
creased and edified, we have reason to believe that 
walking in their footsteps will everywhere and at all 
times insure the same blessed privileges. And it is in 
an exact conformity to their recorded and approved 
example, that we, through grace, would be desirous to 
promote the erection of Churches ; and this we be- 
lieve to be quite practicable, if the legible and au- 
thentic records of their faith and practice be handed 
down to us upon the page of New Testament Scrip- 
ture; but if otherwise, we can not help it. Yet, even 



58 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

in this case, might we not humbly presume that the 
Lord would take the will for the deed? for if there 
be first a willing mind, we are told, "it is accepted ac- 
cording to what a man hath, and not according to 
what he hath not.'' It would appear, then, that sin- 
cerely and humbly adopting this model, with an entire 
reliance upon promised grace, we can not, we shall 
not, be disappointed. By this, at least, we shall get rid 
of two great evils, which, we fear, are at this day 
grievously provoking the Lord to plead a controversy 
with the Churches: we mean the taking and giving 
of unjust offenses; judging and rejecting each other 
in matters wherein the Lord hath not judged, in a flat 
contradiction to his expressly-revealed will. But, ac- 
cording to the principle adopted, we can neither take 
offense at our brother for his private opinions, if he be 
content to hold them as such, nor yet offend him with 
ours, if he do not usurp the place of the lawgiver ; and 
even suppose he should, in this case we judge him, 
not for his opinions, but for his presumption, "There 
is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy : 
who art thou that judgest another?" But further, 
to prevent mistakes, we beg leave to explain our mean- 
ing in a sentence or two, which might possibly be mis- 
understood. In the first page we say, that no man 
has a right to judge his brother, except in so far as he 
manifestly violates the express letter of the law. By 
the law here, and elsewhere, when taken in this lat- 
itude, we mean that whole revelation of faith and duty 
expressly declared in the Divine word, taken together. 
or in its due connection, upon every article, and not 
any detached sentence. We understand it as extend- 
ing to all prohibitions, as well as to all requirements. 
"Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, 
and thou be found a liar." We dare, therefore, neither 
do nor receive anything as of Divine obligation for 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 59 

which there can not be expressly produced a "Thus 
saith the Lord," either in express terms or by ap- 
proved precedent. According to this rule we judge, 
and beyond it we dare not go. Taking this sentiment 
in connection with the last clause of the fifth resolu- 
tion, we are to be understood, of all matters of faith 
and practice, of primary and universal obligation; 
that is to say, of express revelation; that nothing be 
inculcated, as such, for which there can not be express- 
ly produced a "Thus saith the Lord," as above, with- 
out, at the same time, interfering directly or indirectly 
with the private judgment of any individual, which 
does not expressly contradict the express letter of the 
law, or add to the number of its institutions. Every 
sincere and upright Christian will understand and do 
the will of God, in every instance, to the best of his 
skill and judgment; but in the application of the 
general rule to particular cases there may, and doubt- 
less will, be some variety of opinion and practice. 
This, we see, was actually the case in the apostolic 
Churches, without any breach of Christian unity ; and 
if this was the case at the erection of the Christian 
Church from among Jews and Gentiles, may we not 
reasonably expect that it will be the same at her res- 
toration from under her long antichristian and sec- 
tarian desolations? 

With a direct reference to this state of things, and, 
as we humbly think, in a perfect consistency with the 
foregoing explanations, have we expressed ourselves 
in the twenty-ninth page, wherein we declare ourselves 
ready to relinquish whatever we have hitherto received 
as matter of faith or practice, not expressly taught and 
enjoined in the word of God, so that we and our breth- 
ren might, by this mutual concession, return together 
to the original constitutional unity of the Christian 
Church, and dwell together in peace and charity. By 



60 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

this proposed relinquishment we are to be understood 
in the first instance, of our manner of holding those 
things, and not simply of the things themselves; for 
no man can relinquish his opinions or practices till 
once convinced that they are wrong ; and this he may 
not be immediately, even supposing they were so. One 
thing, however, he may do : when not bound by an 
express command, he need not impose them upon 
others, by anywise requiring their approbation; and 
when this is done, the things, to them, are as good 
as dead, yea, as good as buried, too, being thus re- 
moved out of the way. Has not the apostle set us a 
noble example of this* in his pious and charitable zeal 
for the comfort and edification of his brother, in de- 
claring himself ready to forego his rights (not indeed 
to break commandments) rather than stumble, or 
offend, his brother ? -And who knows not that the 
Hebrew Christians abstained from certain meats, ob- 
served certain days, kept the passover, circumcised 
their children, etc., etc., while no such things were 
practiced by the Gentile converts, and yet no breach 
of unity while they charitably forbore one with the 
other. But had the Jews been expressly prohibited, 
or the Gentiles expressly enjoined, by the authority of 
Jesus, to observe these things, could they, in such a 
case, have lawfully exercised this forbearance? But 
where no express law is, there can be no formal, no 
intentional transgression, even although its implicit 
and necessary consequences had forbid the thing, had 
they been discovered. Upon the whole, we see one 
thing is evident: the Lord will bear with the weak- 
nesses, the involuntary ignorances, and mistakes of 
his people, though not with their presumption. Ought 
they not, therefore, to bear with each other — "to pre- 
serve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; 
forbearing one with another in love?" What says 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 61 

the Scripture ? We say, then, the declaration referred 
to is to be thus understood in the first instance ; though 
we do not say but something further is intended. For 
certainly we may lawfully suspend both declaration 
and practice upon any subject, where the law is silent ; 
/hen to do otherwise must prevent the accomplish- 
ment of an expressly-commanded and highly-impor- 
tant duty ; and such, confessedly, is the thing in ques- 
tion. What says the apostle? "All things are lawful 
for me; but all things are not expedient. All things 
are lawful for me; but all things edify not." It 
seems, then, that among lawful things which might be 
forborne — that is, as we humbly conceive, things not 
expressly commanded — the governing principle of the 
apostle's conduct was the edification of his brethren 
of the Church of God. A Divine principle this, in- 
deed ! May the Lord God infuse it into all his people. 
Were all those nonperceptive opinions and practices 
which have been maintained and exalted to the de- 
struction of the Church's unity, counterbalanced with 
the breach of the express law of Christ, and the black 
catalogue of mischiefs which have necessarily ensued, 
on which side, think you, would be the preponderance ? 
When weighed in the balance with this monstrous 
complex evil, would they not all appear lighter than 
vanity? Who, then, would not relinquish a cent to 
obtain a kingdom! And here let it be noted, that it 
is not the renunciation of an opinion or practice as 
sinful that is proposed or intended, but merely a ces- 
sation from the publishing or practicing it, so as to 
give offense ; a thing men are in the habit of doing 
every day for their private comfort or secular emol- 
ument, where the advantage is of infinitely less im- 
portance. Neither is there here any clashing of duties, 
as if to forbear was a sin and also to practice was sin ; 
the thing to be forborne being a matter of private 



62 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

opinion, which, though not expressly forbidden, yet 
are we by no means expressly commanded to practice; 
whereas we are expressly commanded to endeavor to 
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
And what says the apostle to the point in hand ? "Hast 
thou faith/' says he; "have it to thyself before God. 
Happy is the man that condemneth not himself in the 
thing which he alloweth." 

It may be further added, that a still higher and 
more perfect degree of uniformity is intended, though 
neither in the first nor second instance, which are but 
so many steps toward it; namely, the utter abolition 
of those minor differences, which have been greatly 
increased, as well as continued, by our unhappy man- 
ner of treating them, in making them the subject of 
perpetual strife and contention. Many of the opinions 
which are now dividing the Church, had they been let 
alone, would have been long since dead and gone; 
but the constant insisting upon them, as articles of 
faith and terms of salvation, have so beaten them into 
the minds of men, that, in many instances, they would 
as soon deny the Bible itself as give up one of those 
opinions. Having thus embraced contentions and pre- 
ferred divisions to that constitutional unity, peace, and 
charity so essential to Christianity, it would appear 
that the Lord, in righteous judgment, has abandoned 
his professing people to the awful scourge of those 
evils; as, in an instance somewhat similar, he for- 
merly did his highly-favored Israel. "My people," 
says he, "would not hearken to my voice. So I gave 
them up to their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in 
their own counsels.'' "Israel hath made many altars 
to sin: therefore altars shall be unto him to sin." 
Thus, then, are we to be consistently understood as 
fully and fairly intending, on our part, what we have 
declared and proposed to our brethren, as, to our ap- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 63 

prehension, incumbent upon them and us, for putting 
an end forever to our sad and lamentable schisms. 
Should any object and say that, after all, the fullest 
compliance with everything proposed and intended 
would not restore the Church to the desired unity, as 
there might remain differences of opinion and prac- 
tice, let such but duly consider what properly belongs 
to the unity of the Church, and we are persuaded this 
objection will vanish. Does not the visible Scriptural 
unity of the Christian Church consist in the unity of 
her public profession and practice, and, under this, in 
the manifest charity of her members, one toward 
another, and not in the unity of private opinion and 
practice of every individual? Was not this evidently 
the case in the apostles' days, as has been already ob- 
served? If so, the objection falls to the ground. And 
here let it be noted, (if the hint be at all necessary,) 
that we are speaking of the unity of the Church con- 
sidered as a great, visible, professing body, consisting 
of many co-ordinate associations; each of these, in 
its aggregate or associate capacity, walking by the 
same rule, professing and practicing the same things. 
That this visible Scriptural unity be preserved without 
corruption, or breach of charity, throughout the whole, 
and in every particular worshiping society or Church, 
is the grand desideratum — the thing strictly enjoined 
and greatly to be desired. An agreement in the ex- 
pressly-revealed will of God is the adequate and firm 
foundation of this unity; ardent prayer, accompanied 
with prudent, peaceable, and persevering exertion, in 
the use of all Scriptural means for accomplishing it, 
are the things humbly suggested and earnestly rec- 
ommended to our brethren. If we have mistaken the 
way, their charity will put us right ; but if otherwise, 
their fidelity to Christ and his cause will excite them 



64 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

to come forth speedily, to assist with us in this blessed 
work. 

After all, should any impeach us with the vague 
charge of Latitudinarianism, (let none be startled at 
this gigantic term, ) it will prove as feeble an opponent 
to the glorious cause in which we, however weak and 
unworthy, are professedly engaged, as the Zamzum- 
mins did of old, to prevent the children of Lot from 
taking possession of their inheritance. If we take no 
greater latitude than the Divine law allows, either in 
judging of persons or doctrines — either in profession 
or practice, (and this is the very thing we humbly pro- 
pose and sincerely intend,) may we not reasonably 
hope that such a latitude will appear, to every upright 
Christian, perfectly innocent and unexceptionable? If 
this be Latitudinarianism, it must be a good thing, 
and, therefore, the more we have of it the better ; and 
may be it is, for we are told, "the commandment is 
exceeding broad;" and we intend to go just as far 
as it will suffer us, but not one hair-breadth further; 
so, at least, says our profession. And surely it will 
be time enough to condemn our practice, when it ap- 
pears manifestly inconsistent with the profession we 
have thus precisely and explicitly made. We here 
refer to the whole of the foregoing premises. But 
were this word as bad as it is long, were it stuffed 
with evil from beginning to end, may be it better be- 
longs to those that brandish it so unmercifully at their 
neighbors, especially if they take a greater latitude 
than their neighbors do, or than the Divine law allows. 
Let the case, then, be fairly submitted to all that know 
their Bible, to all that take upon them to see with 
their own eyes, to judge for themselves. And here 
let it be observed once for all, that it is only to such 
we direct our attention in the foregoing pages. As 
for those that either can not or will not see and judge 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 65 

for themselves, they must be content to follow their 
leaders till they come to their eyesight, or determine 
to make use of the faculties and means of information 
which God has given them; with such, in the mean 
time, it would be useless to reason, seeing that they 
either confessedly can not see, or have completely re- 
signed themselves to the conduct of their leaders, and 
are therefore determined to hearken to none but them. 
If there be none such, however, we are happily deceiv- 
ed; but, if so, we are not the only persons that are 
thus deceived; for this is the common fault objected 
by almost all the parties to each other, namely, that 
they either can not or will not see; and it would be 
hard to think they were all mistaken ; the fewer there 
be, however, of this description, the better. To all 
those then that are disposed to see and think for them- 
selves, to form their judgment by the Divine word it- 
self, and not by any human explication of it, humbly 
relying upon and looking for the promised assistance 
of Divine teaching, and not barely trusting to their 
own understanding — to all such do we gladly commit 
our cause, being persuaded that, at least, they will 
give it a very serious and impartial consideration, as 
being truly desirous to know the truth. To you, then, 
we appeal, in the present instance, as we have also 
done from the beginning. Say, we beseech you, to 
whom does the charge of Latitudinarianism, when tak- 
en in a bad sense, (for we have supposed it may be 
taken in a good sense,) most truly and properly be- 
long, whether to those that will neither add nor dimin- 
ish anything as to matter of faith and duty, either to 
or from what is expressly revealed and enjoined in 
the holy Scriptures, or to those who pretend to go 
further than this, or to set aside some of its express 
declarations and injunctions, to make way for their 
own opinions, inferences, and conclusions? Whether 



66 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

to those who profess their willingness to hold com- 
munion with their acknowledged Christian brethren, 
when they neither manifestly oppose nor contradict 
anything expressly revealed and enjoined in the sacred 
standard, or to those who reject such, when profess- 
ing to believe and practice whatever is expressly re- 
vealed and enjoined therein, without, at the same 
time, being alleged, much less found guilty, of any- 
thing to the contrary, but instead of this asserting and 
declaring their hearty assent and consent to every- 
thing for which there can be expressly produced a 
"Thus saith the Lord," either in express terms or by 
approved precedent? To which of these, think you, 
does the odious charge of Latitudinarianism belong? 
Which of them takes the greatest latitude? Whether 
those that expressly judge and condemn where they 
have no express warrant for so doing, or those that 
absolutely refuse so to do? And we can assure our 
brethren, that such things are and have been done, 
to our own certain knowledge, and even where we least 
expected it; and that it is to this discovery, as much 
as to many other things, that we stand indebted for 
that thorough conviction of the evil state of things 
in the Churches, which has given rise to our associa- 
tion. As for our part, we dare no longer give our 
assent to such proceedings; we dare no longer con- 
cur in expressly asserting or declaring anything in 
the name of the Lord, that he has not expressly de- 
clared in his holy word. And until such time as 
Christians come to see the evil of doing otherwise, 
we see no rational ground to hope that there can be 
either unity, peace, purity, or prosperity, in the 
Church of God. Convinced of the truth of this, we 
would humbly desire to be instrumental in pointing 
out to our fellow-Christians the evils of such conduct. 
And if we might venture to give our opinion of such 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 67 

proceedings, we would not hesitate to say, that they 
appear to include three great evils — evils -truly great 
in themselves, and at the same time productive of 
most evil consequences. 

First, to determine expressly, in the name of the 
Lord, when the Lord has not expressly determined, 
appears to us a very great evil. (See Deut. xviii : 
20) : "The prophet that shall presume to speak a word 
in my name, which I have not commanded him to 
speak, even that prophet shall die." The apostle 
Paul, no doubt, well aware of this, cautiously dis- 
tinguishes between his own judgment and the express 
injunctions of the Lord. (See 1 Cor. vii : 25 and 40.) 
Though, at the same time, it appears that he was as 
well convinced of the truth and propriety of his dec- 
larations, and of the concurrence of the Holy Spirit 
with his judgment, as any of our modern determiners 
may be; for "I think," said he, "that I have the 
Spirit of God;" and we doubt much, if the best of 
them could honestly say more than this; yet we see 
that, with all this, he would not bind the Church with 
his conclusions; and, for this very reason, as he ex- 
pressly tells us, because, as to the matter on hand, he 
had no commandment of the Lord. He spoke by per- 
mission, and not by commandment, as one that had 
obtained mercy to be faithful, and therefore would not 
forge his Master's name by affixing it to his own con- 
clusions, saying, "The Lord saith," when the Lord had 
not spoken. 

A second evil is, not only judging our brother to be 
absolutely wrong, because he differs from our opin- 
ions, but more especially, our judging him to be a 
transgressor of the law in so doing, and, of course, 
treating him as such by censuring or otherwise expos- 
ing him to contempt, or, at least, preferring ourselves 



68 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

before him in our own judgment, saying, as it were, 
Stand by, I am holier than thou. 

A third and still more dreadful evil is, when we not 
only, in this kind of way, judge and set at naught our 
brother, but, moreover, proceed as a Church, acting 
and judging in the name of Christ, not only to deter- 
mine that our brother is wrong because he differs 
from our determinations, but also, in connection with 
this, proceed so far as to determine the merits of the 
cause by rejecting him, or casting him out of the 
Church, as unworthy of a place in her communion, and 
thus, as far as in our power, cutting him off from the 
kingdom of heaven. In proceeding thus, we not only 
declare that, in our judgment, our brother is in an 
error, which we may sometimes do in a perfect con- 
sistence with charity, but we also take upon us to 
judge, as acting in the name and by the authority of 
Christ, that his error cuts him off from salvation; 
that continuing such, he has no inheritance in the king- 
dom of Christ and of God. If not, what means our 
refusing him — our casting him out of the Church, 
which is the kingdom of God in this world? For 
certainly, if a person have no right, according to the 
Divine word, to a place in the Church of God upon 
earth, (which we say he has not, by thus rejecting 
him,) he can have none to a place in the Church in 
heaven — unless we should suppose that those whom 
Christ by his word rejects here, he will nevertheless 
receive hereafter. And surely it is by the word that 
every Church pretends to judge ; and it is by this rule, 
in the case before us, that the person in the judgment 
of the Church stands rejected. Now is not this, to 
all intents and purposes, determining the merits of the 
cause? Do we not conclude that the person's error 
cuts him off from all ordinary possibility of salvation, 
by thus cutting him off from a place in the Church, out 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 69 

of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation? 
Does he not henceforth become to us as a heathen 
man and a publican? Is he not reckoned among the 
number of those that are without, whom God judgeth? 
If not, what means such a solemn determination? Is 
it anything, or is it nothing, for a person to stand re- 
jected by the Church of God? If such rejection con- 
fessedly leave the man still in the same safe and hope- 
ful state as to his spiritual interests, then, indeed, it 
becomes a matter of mere indifference; for as to his 
civil and natural privileges, it interferes not with 
them. But the Scripture gives us a very different 
view of the matter; for there we see that those that 
stand justly rejected by the Church on earth, have 
no room to hope for a place in the Church of heaven. 
"What ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" is 
the awful sanction of the Church's judgment, in justly 
rejecting any person. Take away this, and it has no 
sanction at all. But the Church rejecting, always pre- 
tends to have acted justly in so doing, and, if so, 
whereabouts does it confessedly leave the person re- 
jected, if not in a state of damnation? that is to say, 
if it acknowledge itself to be a Church of Christ, and 
to have acted justly. If, after all, any particular 
Church acting thus should refuse the foregoing con- 
clusion, by saying: We meant no such thing concern- 
ing the person rejected; we only judged him un- 
worthy of a place among us, and therefore put him 
away, but there are other Churches that may receive 
him; — we would be almost tempted to ask such a 
Church, if those other Churches be Churches of Christ, 
and if so, pray what does it account itself? Is it any- 
thing more or better than a Church of Christ? And 
whether, if those other Churches do their duty as 
faithful Churches, any of them would receive the per- 
son it had rejected? If it be answered that, in acting 



70 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

faithfully, none of those other Churches either could 
or would receive him, then, confessedly, in the judg- 
ment of this particular Church, the person ought to be 
universally rejected; but if otherwise, it condemns it- 
self of having acted unfaithfully, nay cruelly, toward 
a Christian brother, a child of God, in thus rejecting 
him from the heritage of the Lord, in thus cutting him 
off from his Father's house, as the unnatural brethren 
did the beloved Joseph. But even suppose some one 
or other of those unfaithful Churches should receive 
the outcast, would their unfaithfulness in so doing 
nullify, in the judgment of this more faithful Church, 
its just and faithful decision in rejecting him? If not, 
then, confessedly, in its judgment, the person still re- 
mains under the influence of its righteous sentence, 
debarred from the kingdom of heaven ; that is to say, 
if it believe the Scriptures, that what it has righteous- 
ly done upon earth is ratified in heaven. We see no 
way that a Church acting thus can possibly get rid of 
this awful conclusion, except it acknowledge that the 
person it has rejected from its communion still has a 
right to the communion of the Church; but if it 
acknowledge this, whereabout does it leave itself, in 
thus shutting out a fellow-Christian, an acknowledged 
brother, a child of God? Do we find any parallel for 
such conduct in the inspired records, except in the 
case of Diotrephes, of whom the apostle says, "Who 
loveth to have the pre-eminence among t them, receiveth 
us not, prating against us with malicious words : and 
not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive 
the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and 
casteth them out of the Church." 

But further, suppose another Church should receive 
this castaway, this person which this faithful Church 
supposed itself to have righteously rejected, would 
not the Church so doing incur the displeasure, nay, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 71 

even the censure of the Church that had rejected him? 
and, we should think, justly too if he deserved to be 
rejected. And would not this naturally produce a 
schism between the Churches? Or, if it be supposed 
that a schism did already exist, would not this man- 
ifestly tend to perpetuate and increase it? If one 
Church, receiving those whom another puts away, will 
not be productive of schism, we must confess we can 
not tell what would. That Church, therefore, must 
surely act very schismatically, very unlike a Church 
of Christ, which necessarily presupposes or produces 
schism in order to shield an oppressed fellow-Chris- 
tian from the dreadful consequences of its unrighteous 
proceedings. And is not this confessedly the case with 
every Church which rejects a person from its com- 
munion while it acknowledges him to be a fellow- 
Christian ; and, in order to excuse this piece of cruel- 
ty, says he may find refuge some place else, some other 
Church may receive him? For, as we have already 
observed, if no schism did already exist, one Church 
receiving those whom another has rejected must cer- 
tainly make one. The same evils also will as justly 
attach to the conduct of an individual who refuses 
or breaks communion with a Church because it will 
not receive or make room for his private opinions or 
self-devised practices in its public profession and man- 
agements ; for does he not, in this case, actually take 
upon him to judge the Church which he thus rejects 
as unworthy of the communion of Christians? And 
is not this, to all intents and purposes, declaring it, in 
his judgment, excommunicate, or at least worthy of 
excommunication ? 

Thus have we briefly endeavored to show our breth- 
ren what evidently appears to us to be the heinous na- 
ture and dreadful consequences of that truly Latitudi- 
narian principle and practice which is the bitter root of 



72 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

almost all our divisions, namely, the imposing of our 
private opinions upon each other as articles of faith or 
duty, introducing them into the public profession and 
practice of the Church, and acting upon them as if 
they were the express law of Christ, by judging and 
rejecting our brethren that differ from us in those 
things, or at least by so retaining them in our public 
profession and practice that our brethren can not join 
with us, or we with them, without becoming actually 
partakers in those things which they or we can not in 
conscience approve, and which the word of God 
nowhere expressly enjoins upon us. To cease from all 
such things, by simply returning to the original stand- 
ard of Christianity, the profession and practice of the 
primitive Church, as expressly exhibited upon the 
sacred page of the New Testament Scripture, is the 
only possible way that we can perceive to get rid of 
those evils. And we humbly think that a uniform 
agreement in that for the preservation of charity would 
be infinitely preferable to our contentions and divi- 
sions; nay, that such a uniformity is the very thing 
that the Lord requires if the New Testament be a per- 
fect model, a sufficient formula for the worship, dis- 
cipline, and government of the Christian Church. Let 
us do as we are there expressly told they did, say as 
they said; that is, profess and practice as therein ex- 
pressly enjoined by precept and precedent, in every 
possible instance, after their approved example; and 
in so doing we shall realize and exhibit all that unity 
and uniformity that the primitive Church possessed, 
or that the law of Christ requires. But if, after all, 
our brethren can point out a better way to regain and 
preserve that Christian unity and charity expressly en- 
joined upon the Church of God, we shall thank them 
for the discovery, and cheerfully embrace it. 
■ Should it still be urged that this would open a wide 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 73 

door to Latitudinarianism, seeing all that profess 
Christianity profess to receive the holy Scriptures, and 
yet differ so widely in their religious sentiments, we 
say, let them profess what they will, their difference in 
religious profession and practice originates in their 
departure from what is expressly revealed and enjoin- 
ed, and not in their strict and faithful conformity to 
it, which is the thing we humbly advise for putting an 
end to those differences. But you may say, Do they 
not already all agree in the letter, though differing so 
far in sentiment? However this may be, have they 
all agreed to make the letter their rule, or, rather, to 
make it the subject-matter of their profession and 
practice? Surely not, or else they would all profess 
and practice the same thing. Is it not as evident as 
the shining light that the Scriptures exhibit but one 
and the self-same subject-matter of profession and 
practice, at all times and in all places, and that, there- 
fore, to say as it declares, and to do as it prescribes in 
all its holy precepts, its approved and imitable ex- 
amples, would unite the Christian Church in a holy 
sameness of profession and practice throughout the 
whole world? By the Christian Church throughout 
the world, we mean the aggregate of such pro- 
fessors as we have described in Propositions 1 and 
8, even all that mutually acknowledge each other 
as Christians, upon the manifest evidence of their 
faith, holiness, and charity. It is such only we 
intend when we urge the necessity of Christian unity. 
Had only such been all along recognized as the gen- 
uine subjects of our holy religion, there would not, in 
all probability, have been so much apparent need for 
human formulas to preserve an external formality of 
professional unity and soundness in the faith, but art- 
ificial and superficial characters need artificial means 
to train and unite them. A manifest attachment to our 



74 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

Lord Jesus Christ in faith, holiness, and charity, was 
the original criterion of Christian character, the dis- 
tinguishing badge of our holy profession, the founda- 
tion and cement of Christian unity. But now, alas! 
and long since, an external name, a mere educational 
formality of sameness in the profession of a certain 
standard or formula of human fabric, with a very 
moderate degree of what is called morality, forms the 
bond and foundation, the root and reason of ecclesias- 
tical unity. Take away from such the technicalness of 
their profession, the shibboleth of party, and what 
have they more? What have they left to distinguish 
and hold them together? As for the Bible, they are 
but little beholden to it, they have learned little from 
it, they know little about it, and therefore depend as 
little upon it. Nay, they will even tell you it would 
be of no use to them without their formula; they 
could not know a Papist from a Protestant by it; that 
merely by it they could neither keep themselves nor 
the Church right for a single week. You might 
preach to them what you please, they could not dis- 
tinguish truth from error. Poor people, it is no 
wonder they are so fond of their formula ! Therefore 
they that exercise authority upon them and tell them 
what they are to believe and what they are to do, are 
called benefactors. These are the reverend and right 
reverend authors, upon whom they can and do place 
a more entire and implicit confidence than upon the 
holy apostles and prophets; those plain, honest, un- 
assuming men, who would never venture to say or do 
anything in the name of the Lord without an express 
revelation from Heaven, and therefore were never dis- 
tinguished by the venerable titles of Rabbi or Reve- 
rend, but just simple Paul, John, Thomas, etc. These 
were but servants. They did not assume to legislate, 
and, therefore, neither assumed nor received any hon- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 75 

orary titles among men, but merely such as were de- 
scriptive of their office. And how, we beseech you, 
shall this gross and prevalent corruption be purged out 
of the visible professing Church but by a radical re- 
form, but by returning to the original simplicity, the 
primitive purity of the Christian institution, and, of 
course, taking up things just as we find them upon the 
sacred page. And who is there that knows anything 
of the present state of the Church who does not per- 
ceive that it is greatly overrun with the aforesaid 
evils? Or who that reads his Bible, and receives the 
impressions it must necessarily produce upon the re- 
ceptive mind by the statements it exhibits-, does not 
perceive that such a state of things is as distinct from 
genuine Christianity as oil is from water? 

On the other hand, is it not equally as evident that 
not one of all the erroneous tenets and corrupt prac- 
tices which have so defamed and corrupted the public 
profession and practice of Christianity, could ever 
have appeared in the world had men kept close by the 
express letter of the Divine law, had they thus held 
fast that form of sound words contained in the holy 
Scriptures, and considered it their duty so to do, un- 
less they blame those errors and corruptions upon the 
very form and expression of the Scriptures, and say 
that, taken in their letter and connection, they im- 
mediately, and at first sight, as it were, exhibit the pic- 
ture they have drawn? Should any be so bold as to 
assert this, let them produce their performance, the 
original is at hand; and let them show us line for 
line, expression for expression, precept and precedent 
for practice, without the torture of criticism, infer- 
ence, or conjecture, and then we shall honestly blame 
the whole upon the Bible, and thank those that will 
give us an expurged edition of it, call it constitution, 
or formula, or what you please, that will not be liable 



76 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

to lead the simple, unlettered world into those gross 
mistakes, those contentions, schisms, excommunica- 
tions, and persecutions which have proved so detri- 
mental and scandalous to our holy religion. 

Should it be further objected, that even this strict 
literal uniformity would neither infer nor secure unity 
of sentiment; it is granted that, in a certain degree, 
it would not ; nor, indeed, is there anything either in 
Scripture or the nature of things that should induce 
us to expect an entire unity of sentiment in the present 
imperfect state. The Church may, and we believe 
will, come to such a Scriptural unity of faith and 
practice, that there will be no schism in the body, no 
self-preferring sect of professed and acknowledged 
Christians rejecting and excluding their brethern. This 
can not be, however, till the offensive and excluding 
causes be removed; and every one knows what these 
are. But that all the members should have the same 
identical views of all Divinely-revealed truths, or that 
there should be no difference of opinion among them, 
appears to us. morally impossible, all things consider- 
ed. Nor can we conceive what desirable purpose such 
a unity of sentiment would serve, except to render 
useless some of those gracious, self-denying, and com- 
passionate precepts of mutual sympathy and forbear- 
ance which the word of God enjoins upon his people. 
Such, then, is the imperfection of our present state. 
Would to God it might prove, as it ought, a just and 
humbling counterbalance to our pride ! Then, indeed, 
we would judge one another no more about such mat- 
ters. We would rather be conscientiously cautious to 
give no offense ; to put no stumbling-block or occasion 
to fall in our brother's way. We would then no longer 
exalt our own opinions and inferences to an equality 
with express revelation, by condemning and rejecting 
our brother for differing with us in those things. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 77 

But although it be granted that the uniformity we 
plead for would not secure unity of sentiment, yet we 
should suppose that it would be as efficacious for that 
purpose as any human expedient or substitute what- 
soever. And here we would ask : Have all or any of 
those human compilations been able to prevent divi- 
sions, to heal breaches, or to produce and maintain 
unity of sentiment even among those who have most 
firmly and solemnly embraced them? We appeal for 
this to the history of all the Churches, and to the 
present divided state of the Church at large. What 
good, then, have those divisive expedients accomplish- 
ed, either to the parties that have adopted them, or to 
the Church universal, which might not have been as 
well secured by holding fast in profession and practice 
that form of sound words contained in the Divine 
standard, without, at the same time, being liable to 
any of those dangerous and destructive consequences 
which have necessarily ensued upon the present mode ? 
Or, will any venture to say that the Scriptures, thus 
kept in their proper place, would not have been amply 
sufficient, under the promised influence of the Divine 
Spirit, to have produced all that unity of sentiment 
which is necessary to a life of faith and holiness ; and 
also to have preserved the faith and worship of the 
Church as pure from mixture and error as the Lord 
intended, or as the present imperfect state of his people 
can possibly admit? We should tremble to think that 
any Christian should say that they would not. And if 
to use them thus would be sufficient for those pur- 
poses, why resort to other expedients; to expedients 
which, from the beginning to this day, have proved 
utterly insufficient ; nay, to expedients which have al- 
ways produced the very contrary effects, as experience 
testifies? Let none here imagine that we set any cer- 
tain limits to the Divine intention, or to the greatness 



78 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

of his power when we thus speak, as if a certain 
degree of purity from mixture and error were not 
designed for the Church in this world, or attainable 
by his people upon earth, except in so far as respects 
the attainment of an angelic or unerring perfection, 
much less that we mean to suggest that a very moder- 
ate degree of unity and purity should content us. We 
only take it for granted that such a state of perfection 
is neither intended nor attainable in this world as 
will free the Church from all those weaknesses, mis- 
takes, and mismanagements from which she will be 
completely exempted in heaven, however sound and 
upright she may now be in her profession, intention, 
and practice. Neither let any imagine that we here 
or elsewhere suppose or intend to assert that human 
standards are intentionally set up in competition with 
the Bible, much less in opposition to it. We fairly 
understand and consider them as human expedients, 
or as certain doctrinal declarations of the sense in 
which the compilers understood the Scriptures, design- 
ed and embraced for the purpose of promoting and 
securing that desirable unity and purity which the 
Bible alone, without those helps, would be insufficient 
to maintain and secure. If this be not the sense of 
those that receive and hold them, for the aforesaid pur- 
pose, we should be glad to know what it is. It is, 
however, in this very sense that we take them up when 
we complain of them as not only unsuccessful, but 
also as unhappy expedients, producing the very con- 
trary effects. And even suppose it were doubtful 
whether or not those helps have produced divisions, 
one thing, at least, is certain, they have not been able 
to prevent them; and now that divisions do exist, it 
is as certain that they have no fitness nor tendency 
to heal them, but the very contrary, as fact and ex- 
perience clearly demonstrate. What shall we do, then, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 79 

to heal our divisions? We must certainly take some 
other way than the present practice, if they ever be 
healed; for it expressly says, they must and shall 
be perpetuated forever. Let all the enemies of Chris- 
tianity say Amen; but let all Christians continually 
say : Forbid it, O Lord ! May the good Lord subdue 
the corruptions and heal the divisions of his people. 
Amen, and amen. 

After all that has been said, some of our timid 
brethren may, possibly, still object, and say: we fear 
that without the intervention of some definite creed or 
formula, you will justly incur the censure of Latitudi- 
narianism; for how otherwise detect and exclude 
Arians, Socinians, etc ? To such we would reply, that 
if to profess, inculcate, and practice neither more nor 
less, neither anything else nor otherwise than the 
Divine word expressly declares respecting the entire 
subject of faith and duty, and simply to rest in that, 
as the expression of our faith and rule of our practice, 
will not amount to the profession and practical exhibi- 
tion of Arianism, Socinianism, etc., but merely to one 
and the self-same thing, whatever it may be called, 
then is the ground that we have taken, the principle 
that we advocate, in nowise chargeable with Latitudi- 
narianism. Should it be still further objected that all 
these sects, and many more, profess to receive the 
Bible, to believe it to be the word of God, and, there- 
fore, will readily profess to believe and practice what- 
ever is revealed and enjoined therein, and yet each 
will understand it his own way, and of course practice 
accordingly; nevertheless, according to the plan pro- 
posed, you receive them all. We would ask, then, do 
all these profess and practice neither more nor less 
than what we read in the Bible — than what is express- 
ly revealed and enjoined therein? If so, they all pro- 
fess and practice the same thing, for the Bible exhibits 



80 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

but one and the self-same thing to all. Or, is it their 
own inferences and opinions that they, in reality, pro- 
fess and practice? If so, then upon the ground that 
we have taken they stand rejected, as condemned of 
themselves, for thus professing one thing when in fact 
and reality they manifestly practice another. But per- 
haps you will say, that although a uniformity in pro- 
fession, and it may be in practice too, might thus be 
produced, yet still it would amount to no more than 
a mere uniformity in words, and in the external for- 
malities of practice, while the persons thus professing 
and practicing might each entertain his own senti- 
ments, how different soever these might be. Our reply 
is, if so, they could hurt nobody but themselves. Be- 
sides, if persons thus united professed and practiced 
all the same things, pray who could tell that they en- 
tertained different sentiments, or even in justice sup- 
pose it, unless they gave some evident intimation of 
it? which, if they did, would justly expose them to 
censure or to rejection, if they repented not; seeing 
the offense, in this case, must amount to nothing less 
than an express violation of the expressly-revealed 
will of God — to a manifest transgression of the ex- 
press letter of the law; for we have declared, that 
except in such a case, no man, in our judgment, has 
a right to judge, that is, to condemn or reject his 
professing brother. Here, we presume, there is no 
greater latitude assumed or allowed on either side 
than the law expressly determines. But we would 
humbly ask if a professed agreement in the terms of 
any standard be not liable to the very same objection? 
If, for instance, Arians, Socinians, Arminians. Cal- 
vinists, Antinomians, etc., might not all subscribe the 
Westminster Confession, the Athanasian Creed, or the 
doctrinal articles of the Church of England? If this 
be denied, we appeal to historical facts; and, in the 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 81 

mean time, venture to assert, that such things are and 
have been done. Or, will any say that a person might 
not with equal ease, honesty, and consistency, be an 
Arian or a Socinian in his heart while subscribing the 
Westminster Confession or the Athanasian Creed, as 
while making his unqualified profession to believe 
everything that the Scriptures declare concerning 
Christ? to put all that confidence in him, and to as- 
cribe all that glory, honor, thanksgiving, and praise 
to him, professed and ascribed to him in the Divine 
word? If you say not, it follows, of undeniable con- 
sequence, that the wisdom of men, in those compila- 
tions, has effected what the Divine Wisdom either 
could not, would not, or did not do, in that all-perfect 
and glorious revelation of his will, contained in the 
Holy Scriptures. Happy emendation ! Blessed ex- 
pedient ! Happy, indeed, for the Church that Athan- 
asius arose in the fourth century to perfect what the 
holy apostles and prophets had left in such a rude 
and unfinished state. But if, after all, the Divine 
Wisdom did not think proper to do anything more, or 
anything else than is already done in the sacred 
oracles, to settle and determine those important points, 
who can say that he determined such a thing should 
be done afterward? Or has he anywhere given us 
any intimation of such an intention? 

Let it here be carefully observed that the question 
before us is about human standards designed to be sub- 
scribed, or otherwise solemnly acknowledged, for the 
preservation of ecclesiastical unity and purity, and 
therefore, of course, by no means applies to the many 
excellent performances for the Scriptural elucidation 
and defense of Divinely-revealed truths, and other in- 
structive purposes. These, we hope, according to their 
respective merit, we as highly esteem, and as thank- 
fully receive, as our brethren. But further, with re- 



82 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

spect to unity of sentiment, even suppose it ever so de- 
sirable, it appears highly questionable whether such a 
thing can at all be secured, by any expedient whatso- 
ever, especially if we consider that it necessarily pre- 
supposes in so far a unity or sameness of understand- 
ing. Or, will any say, that from the youth of seven- 
teen to the man of fourscore — from the illiterate 
peasant up to the learned prelate — all the legitimate 
members of the Church entertain the same sentiments 
under their respective formulas? If not, it is still but 
a mere verbal agreement, a mere show of unity. They 
say an amen to the same forms of speech, or of sound 
words, as they are called, without having, at the same 
time, the same views of the subject; or, it may be, 
without any determinate views of it at all. And, what 
is still worse, this profession is palmed upon the world, 
as well as upon the too credulous professors them- 
selves, for unity of sentiment, for soundness in the 
faith, when, in a thousand instances, they have, prop- 
erly speaking, no faith at all; that is to say, if faith 
necessarily presupposes a true and satisfactory convic- 
tion of the Scriptural evidence and certainty of the 
truth of the propositions we profess to believe. A 
cheap and easy orthodoxy this, to which we may attain 
by committing to memory a catechism, or professing 
our approbation of a formula, made ready to our 
hand, which we may or may not have once read over ; 
or even if we have, yet may not have been able to 
read it so correctly and intelligently as to clearly un- 
derstand one single paragraph from beginnig to end, 
much less to compare it with, to search and try it by 
the holy Scriptures, to see if these things be so. A 
cheap and easy orthodoxy this, indeed, to which a 
person may thus attain, without so much as turning 
over a single leaf of his Bible, whereas Christ knew 
no other way of leading us to the knowledge of him- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 83 

self, at least has prescribed no other, but by searching 
the Scriptures, with reliance upon his Holy Spirit. A 
person may, however, by this short and easy method, 
become as orthodox as the apostle Paul (if such super- 
ficial professions, such mere hearsay verbal repetitions 
can be called orthodoxy) without ever once consult- 
ing the Bible, or so much as putting up a single peti- 
tion for the Holy Spirit to guide him into all truth, 
to open his understanding to know the Scriptures; 
for, his form of sound words truly believed, if it hap- 
pen to be right, must, without more ado, infallibly se- 
cure his orthodoxy. Thrice happy expedient! But is 
there no Latitudinarianism in all this ? Is not this tak- 
ing a latitude, in devising ways and means for ac- 
complishing Divine and saving purposes, which the 
Divine law has nowhere prescribed, for which the 
Scriptures nowhere afford us either precept or pre- 
cedent? unless it can be shown that making human 
standards to determine the doctrine, worship, disci- 
pline, and government of the Church for the purpose 
of preserving her unity and purity, and requiring an 
approbation of them as a term of communion, is a 
Scripture institution. Far be it from us, in the mean 
time, to allege that the Church should not make every 
Scriptural exertion in her power to preserve her unity 
and purity; to teach and train up her members in 
the knowledge of all divinely-revealed truth; or to 
say that the evils above complained of attach to all 
that are in the habit of using the aforesaid helps ; or 
that this wretched state of things, however general, 
necessarily proceeds from the legitimate use of such; 
but rather and entirely from the abuse of them, which 
is the very and only thing that we are all along oppos- 
ing when we allude to those subordinate standards. 
(An appellation this, by the by, which appears to us 
highly paradoxical, if not utterly inconsistent, and full 
of confusion.) 



84 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

But, however this may be, we are by no means to 
be understood as at all wishing to deprive our fellow- 
Christians of any necessary and possible assistance 
to understand the Scriptures, or to come to a distinct 
and particular knowledge of every truth they con- 
tain, for which purpose the Westminster Confession 
and Catechisms may, with many other excellent per- 
formances, prove eminently useful. But, having served 
ourselves of these, let our profiting appear to all, 
by our manifest acquaintance with the Bible ; by mak- 
ing our profession of faith and obedience ; by declar- 
ing its Divine dictates, in which we acquiesce, as the 
subject-matter and rule of both; in our ability to 
take the Scripture in its connection upon these sub- 
jects, so as to understand one part of it by the assist- 
ance of another; and in manifesting our self- 
knowledge, our knowledge of the way of salvation 
and of the mystery of the Christian life, in the express 
light of Divine revelation, by a direct and immediate 
reference to, and correct repetition of what it declares 
upon those subjects. We take it for granted that no 
man either knows God, or himself, or the way of sal- 
vation, but in so far as he has heard and understood 
his voice upon those subjects, as addressed to him in 
the Scriptures, and that, therefore, whatever he has 
heard and learned of a saving nature, is contained 
in the express terms of the Bible. If so, in the express 
terms, in and by which "he hath heard and learned of 
the Father," let him declare it. This by no means for- 
bids him to use helps, but, we humbly presume, will 
effectually prevent him from resting either in them or 
upon them, which is the evil so justly complained of; 
from taking up with the directory instead of the ob- 
ject to which it directs. Thus will the whole subject 
of his faith and duty, in so far as he has attained, be 
expressly declared in a "Thus saith the Lord." And 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 85 

is it not worthy of remark, that of whatever use other 
books may be, to direct and lead us to the Bible, or 
to prepare and assist us to understand it, yet the Bible 
never directs us to any book but itself. When we 
come forward, then, as Christians, to be received by 
the Church, which, properly speaking, has but one 
book, "For to it were committed the oracles of God," 
let us hear of none else. Is it not upon the credible 
profession of our faith in, and obedience to its Divine 
contents, that the Church is bound to receive ap- 
plicants for admission ? And does not a profession of 
our faith and obedience necessarily presuppose a 
knowledge of the dictates we profess to believe and 
obey ? Surely, then, we can declare them, and as sure- 
ly, if our faith and obedience be Divine, as to the 
subject-matter, rule, and reason of them, it must be a 
"Thus saith the Lord;" if otherwise, they are merely 
human, being taught by the precepts of men. In the 
case then before us, that is, examination for Church- 
membership, let the question no longer be, What does 
any human system say of the primitive or present 
state of man? of the person, offices, and relation of 
Christ, etc., etc.? or of this, that, or the other duty? 
but, What says the Bible? Were this mode of pro- 
cedure adopted, how much better acquainted with their 
Bibles would Christians be? What an important al- 
teration would it also make in the education of youth ? 
Would it not lay all candidates for admission into the 
Church under the happy necessity of becoming par- 
ticularly acquainted with the holy Scriptures ? where- 
as, according to the present practice, thousands know 
little about them. 

One thing still remains that may appear matter of 
difficulty or objection to some, namely, that such a 
close adherence to the express letter of the Divine 
word, as we seem to propose, for the restoration and 



86 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

maintenance of Christian unity, would not only inter- 
fere with the free communication of our sentiments 
one to another upon religious subjects, but must, of 
course, also necessarily interfere with the public 
preaching and expounding of the Scriptures for the 
edification of the Church. Such as feel disposed to 
make this objection, should justly consider that one of 
a similar nature, and quite as plausible, might be 
made to the adoption of human standards, especially 
when made, as some of them confessedly are, "the 
standard for all matters of doctrine, worship, disci- 
pline, and government." In such a case it might, with 
as much justice, at least, be objected to the adopters : 
You have now no more use for the Bible ; you have got 
another book, which you have adopted as a standard 
for all religious purposes; you have no further use 
for explaining the Scriptures, either as to matter of 
faith or duty, for this you have confessedly done al- 
ready in your standard, wherein you have determined 
all matters of this nature. You also profess to hold 
fast the form of sound words, which you have thus 
adopted, and therefore you must never open your 
mouth upon any subject in any other terms than those 
of your standard. In the mean time, would any of 
the parties which has thus adopted its respective stan- 
dard, consider any of these charges just? If not, let 
them do as they would be done by. We must confess, 
however, that for our part, we can not see how, with 
any shadow of consistency, some of them could clear 
themselves, especially of the first; that is to say, if 
words have any determinate meaning; for certainly 
it would appear almost, if not altogether incontrovert- 
ible, that a book adopted by any party as its standard 
for all matters of doctrine, worship, discipline, and 
government, must be considered as the Bible of that 
party. And after all that can be said in favor of 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 87 

such a performance, be it called Bible, standard, or 
what it may, it is neither anything more nor better 
than the judgment or opinion of the party composing 
or adopting it, and, therefore, wants the sanction of 
a Divine authority, except in the opinion of the party 
which has thus adopted it. But can the opinion of 
any party, be it ever so respectable, give the stamp of 
a Divine authority to its judgments? If not, then 
every human standard is deficient in this leading, all- 
important, and indispensable property of a rule or 
standard for the doctrine, worship, discipline, and gov- 
ernment of the Church of God. But, without insisting 
further upon the intrinsic and irremediable deficiency 
of human standards for the above purpose, (which is 
undeniably evident if it be granted that a Divine 
authority is indispensably necessary to constitute a 
standard or rule for Divine things, such as is the 
constitution and managements, the faith and worship 
of the Christian Church,) we would humbly ask, 
Would any of the parties consider as just the fore- 
going objections, however conclusive and well found- 
ed all or any of them may appear? We believe they 
would not. And may we not with equal consistency 
hold fast the expressly-revealed will of God, in the 
very terms in which it is expressed in his holy word, 
as the very expression of our faith and express rule 
of our duty, and yet take the same liberty that they 
do, notwithstanding their professed and steadfast ad- 
herence to their respective standards? We find they 
do not cease to expound, because they have already ex- 
pounded, as before alleged, nor yet do they always 
confine themselves to the express terms of their re- 
spective standards, yet they acknowledge them to be 
their standards and profess to hold them fast. Yea, 
moreover, some of them profess, and, if we may con- 
clude from facts, we believe each of them is disposed 



88 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

to defend by occasional vindications (or testimonies, 
as some call them) the sentiments they have adopted 
and engrossed in their standards, without at the same 
time requiring an approbation of those occasional per- 
formances as a term of communion. And what should 
hinder us, or any, adopting the Divine standard, as 
aforesaid, with equal consistency to do the same for 
the vindication of the Divine truths expressly revealed 
and enjoined therein? To say that we can not believe 
and profess the truth, understand one another, in- 
culcate and vindicate the faith and law of Christ, or 
do the duties incumbent upon Christians or a Christian 
Church without a human standard, is not only saying 
that such a standard is quite essential to the very be- 
ing of Christianity, and, of course, must have existed 
before a Church was or could be formed, but it is also 
saying, that without such a standard, the Bible would 
be quite inadequate as a rule of faith and duty, or, 
rather, of no use at all, except to furnish materials 
for such a work; whereas the Church of Ephesus, 
long before we have any account of the existence of 
such a standard, is not only mentioned, with many 
others, as in a state of existence, and of high attain- 
ments too, but is also commended for her vigilance 
and fidelity in detecting and rejecting false apostles. 
"Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, 
and are not, and hast found them liars." But should 
any pretend to say that although such performances 
be not essential to the very being of the Church, yet 
are they highly conducive to its well-being and per- 
fection. For the confutation of such an assertion, we 
would again appeal to Church history and existing 
facts and leave the judicious and intelligent Christian 
to determine. 

If after all that has been said, any should still pre- 
tend to affirm that the plan we profess to adopt and 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 89 

recommend is truly Latitudinarian, in the worst and 
fullest sense of the term, inasmuch as it goes to make 
void all human efforts to maintain the unity and purity 
of the Church, by substituting a vague and indefinite 
approbation of the Scriptures as an alternative for 
creeds, confessions, and testimonies, and thereby opens 
a wide door for the reception of all sorts of characters 
and opinions into the Church, were we not convinced 
by experience, that nowithstanding all that has been 
said, such objections would likely be made, or that 
some weak persons might possibly consider them as 
good as demonstration, especially when proceeding 
from highly influential characters, (and there have not 
been wanting such in all ages to oppose, under various 
plausible pretenses, the unity and peace of the Church,) 
were it not for these considerations, we should con- 
tent ourselves with what we have already advanced 
upon the whole of the subject, as being well assured 
that duly attended to, there would not be the least 
room for such an objection; but to prevent if possible 
such unfounded conclusions, or if this can not be 
done, to caution and assist the too credulous and un- 
wary professor, that he may not be carried away all 
at once with the hightoned confidence of bold asser- 
tion, we would refer him to the overture for union 
in truth contained in the foregoing address. Union 
in truth, among all the manifest subjects of grace and 
truth, is what we advocate. We carry our views 
of union no further than this, nor do we presume to 
recommend it upon any other principle than truth 
alone. Now, surely, truth is something certain and 
definite; if not, who will take upon him to define and 
determine it? This we suppose God has sufficiently 
done already in his holy Word. That men therefore 
truly receive and make the proper use of the Divine 
word for walking together in truth and peace, in 



90 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

holiness and charity, is, no doubt, the ardent desire 
of all the genuine subjects of our holy religion. This, 
we see, however, they have not done, to the awful 
detriment and manifest subversion of what we might 
almost call the primary intention of Christianity. We 
dare not, therefore, follow their example, nor adopt 
their ruinous expedients. But does it therefore follow 
that Christians may not, or can not take proper steps 
to ascertain that desirable and preceptive unity which 
the Divine word requires and enjoins? Surely no; 
at least we have supposed no such thing; but, on the 
contrary, have overtured to our brethren what appears 
to us undeniably just and Scripturally evident, and 
which, we humbly think, if adopted and acted upon, 
would have the desired effect; adopted and acted 
upon, not indeed as a standard for the doctrine, wor- 
ship, discipline, and government of the Church, for it 
pretends not to determine these matters, but rather 
supposes the existence of a fixed and certain standard 
of Divine original, in which everything that the wis- 
dom of God saw meet to reveal and determine, for 
these and all other purposes, is expressly defined and 
determined; between the Christian and which, no 
medium of human determination ought to be inter- 
posed. In all this there is surely nothing like the 
denial of any lawful effort to promote and maintain 
the Church's unity, though there be a refusal of the 
unwarrantable interposition of an unauthorized and 
assuming power. 

Let none imagine that we are here determining 
upon the merits of the overture to which, in the case 
before us, we find it necessary to appeal in our own 
defense against the injustice of the supposed charge 
above specified. To the judgment of our brethren have 
we referred that matter, and with them we leave it. 
All we intend, therefore, is to avail ourselves so far 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 91 

of what we have done, as to show that we have no in- 
tention whatsoever of substituting a vague, indefinite 
approbation of the Scriptures as an alternative for 
creeds, confessions, and testimonies, for the purpose 
of restoring the Church to her original constitutional 
unity and purity. In avoiding Scylla we would cau- 
tiously guard against being wrecked upon Charybdis. 
Extremes, we are told, are dangerous. We therefore 
suppose a middle way, a safe way, so plainly marked 
out by unerring wisdom, that if duly attended to under 
the Divine direction, wayfaring men, though fools, 
need not err therein, and of such is the kingdom 
of God: "For he hath chosen the foolish things of 
the world to confound the things that are wise." We 
therefore conclude it must be a plain way, a way most 
graciously and most judiciously adapted to the capac- 
ity of the subjects, and consequently not the way of 
subscribing or otherwise approving human standards 
as a term of admission into his Church, as a test and 
defense of orthodoxy, which even the compilers them- 
selves are not always agreed about, and which nine- 
teen out of twenty of the Lord's people can not thor- 
oughly understand. It must be a way very far re- 
mote from logical subtilties and metaphysical specula- 
tions, and as such we have taken it up, upon the plain- 
est and most obvious principles of Divine revelation 
and common sense — the common sense, we mean, of 
Christians, exercised upon the plainest and most ob- 
vious truths and facts divinely recorded for their in- 
struction. Hence we have supposed, in the first place, 
the true descrimination of Christian character to con- 
sist in an intelligent profession of our faith in Christ 
and obedience to him in all things according to the 
Scriptures, the reality of which profession is manifest- 
ed by the holy consistency of the tempers and conduct 
of the professors with the express dictates and ap- 



92 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

proved examples of the Divine word. Hence we have 
humility, faith, piety, temperance, justice, charity, etc., 
professed and manifested, in the first instance, by the 
persons professing with self-application the convinc- 
ing, humbling, encouraging, pious, temperate, just and 
charitable doctrines and precepts of the inspired vol- 
ume, as exhibited and enforced in its holy and approved 
examples, and the sincerity of this profession evidently 
manifested by the consistency of the professor's tem- 
per and conduct with the entire subject of his profes- 
sion, either by an irreprovable conformity, like good 
Zachariah and Elizabeth, which is of all things most 
desirable, or otherwise, in case of any visible failure, 
by an apparently sincere repentance and evident re- 
formation. Such professors, and such only, have we 
supposed to be, by common consent, truly worthy the 
Christian name. Ask from the one end of heaven to 
the other, the whole number of such intelligent and 
consistent professors as we intend and have described, 
and, we humbly presume, there will not be found one 
dissenting voice. They will all acknowledge, with one 
consent, that the true discrimination of Christian 
character consists in these things, and that the- radical 
or manifest want of any of the aforesaid properties 
completely destroys the character. 

We have here only taken for granted what we sup- 
pose no rational professor will venture to deny; name- 
ly, that the Divine word contains an ample sufficiency 
upon every one of the foregoing topics to stamp the 
above character, if so be that the impressions which its 
express declarations are obviously calculated to pro- 
duce be truly received; for instance, suppose a person 
profess to believe, with application to himself, that 
whole description of human depravity and wretched- 
ness which the Scriptures exhibit of fallen man, in the 
express declarations and dismal examples of human 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 93 

wickedness therein recorded, contrasted with the holy 
nature, the righteous requirements, and inflexible jus- 
tice of an infinitely holy, just, and jealous God, would 
not the subject-matter of such a profession be amply 
sufficient to impress the believing mind with the most 
profound humility, self-abhorrence, and dreadful ap- 
prehension of the tremendous effects of sin? Again, 
should the person profess to believe, in connection 
with this, all that the Scriptures declare of the sov- 
ereign love, mercy, and condescension of God toward 
guilty, depraved, rebellious man, as the same is man- 
ifested in Christ, and in all the gracious declarations, 
invitations, and promises that are made in and through 
him for the relief and encouragement of the guilty, 
etc., would not all this, taken together, be sufficient to 
impress the believing mind with the most lively con- 
fidence, gratitude, and love? Should this person, 
moreover, profess that delight and confidence in the 
Divine Redeemer — that voluntary submission to him 
— that worship and adoration of him which the Scrip- 
tures expressly declare to have been the habits and 
practice of his people, would not the subject-matter of 
this profession be amply sufficient to impress the be- 
lieving mind with that dutiful disposition, with that 
gracious veneration and supreme reverence which the 
word of God requires? And should not all this taken 
together satisfy the Church, in so far, in point of pro- 
fession ? If not, there is no alternative but a new rev- 
elation; seeing that to deny this, is to assert that a 
distinct perception and sincere profession of whatever 
the word declares upon every point of faith and duty, 
is not only insufficient, as a doctrinal means, to pro- 
duce a just and suitable impression in the mind of the 
believing subject, but is also insufficient to satisfy the 
Church as to a just and adequate profession ; if other- 
wise, then it will necessarily follow, that not every 



94 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

sort of character, but that one sort only, is admissible 
upon the principle we have adopted ; and that by the 
universal consent of all that we, at least, dare venture 
to call Christians, this is acknowledged to be, exclus- 
ively, the true Christian character. Here, then, we 
have a fixed point, a certain description of character, 
which combines in every professing subject the Scrip- 
tural profession, the evident manifestation of humility, 
faith, piety, temperance, justice, and charity, instruct- 
ed by, and evidently answering to the entire declara- 
tion of the word upon each of those topics, which, as 
so many properties, serve to constitute the character. 
Here, we say, we have a fixed, and at the same time 
sweeping distinction, which, as of old, manifestly di- 
vides the whole world, however otherwise distinguish- 
ed, into but two classes only. "We know," said the 
apostle, evidently speaking of such, "that we are of 
God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." 

Should it be inquired concerning the persons in- 
cluded in this description of character, whether they 
be Arminians or Calvinists, or both promiscuously 
huddled together? It may be justly replied, that ac- 
cording to what we have proposed, they can be nom- 
inally neither, and of course not both, for we call 
no man master on earth, for one is our Master, even 
Christ, and all we are brethren, are Christians by pro- 
fession; and as such, abstract speculation and argu- 
mentative theory make no part either of our profes- 
sion or practice. Such professors, then, as we intend 
and have described, are just what their profession and 
practice make them to be ; and this we hope has been 
Scripturally, and we might add, satisfactorily defined, 
in so far, at least, as the limits of so brief a perform- 
ance would admit. We also entertain the pleasing 
confidence that the plan of procedure which we have 
ventured to suggest, if duly attended to, if fully re- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 95 

duced to practice, would necessarily secure to the pro- 
fessing subject all the advantages of divinely-revealed 
truth, without any liability to conceal, to diminish, or 
to misrepresent it, as it goes immediately to ascribe 
everything to God respecting his sovereignty, inde- 
pendence, power, wisdom, goodness, justice, truth, 
holiness, mercy, condescension, love, and grace, etc., 
which is ascribed to him in his word, as also to receive 
whatever it declares concerning the absolute depend- 
ence of the poor, guilty, depraved, polluted creature, 
upon the Divine will, power, and grace for every sav- 
ing purpose ; a just perception and correspondent pro- 
fession of which, according to the Scriptures, is sup- 
posed to constitute that fundamental ingredient in 
Christian character: true evangelical humility. And 
so of the rest. Having thus, we hope, Scripturally and 
evidently determined the character, with the proper 
mode of ascertaining it, to the satisfaction of all con- 
cerned, we next proceed to affirm, with the same 
Scriptural evidence, that among such, however, situat- 
ed, whether in the same or similar associations, there 
ought to be no schism, no uncharitable divisions, but 
that they ought all mutually to receive and acknowl- 
edge each other as brethren. As to the truth of this 
assertion, they are all likewise agreed, without one 
dissenting voice. We next suggest that for this pur- 
pose they ought all to walk by the same rule, to mind 
and speak the same thing, etc., and that this rule is, 
and ought to be, the Divine standard. Here again we 
presume there can be no objection; no, not a single 
dissenting voice. As to the rule itself, we have ven- 
tured to allege that the New Testament is the proper 
and immediate rule, directory, and formula for the 
New Testament Church, and for the particular duties 
of Christians, as the Old Testament was for the Old 
Testament Church, and for the particular duties of 



96 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

the subject under that dispensation ; at the same time 
by no means excluding the Old as fundamental to, 
illustrative of, and inseparably connected with the 
New, and as being every way of equal authority, as 
well as of an entire sameness with it in every point of 
moral natural duty, though not immediately our rule, 
without the intervention and coincidence of the New, 
in which our Lord has taught his people, by the min- 
istry of his holy apostles, all things whatsoever they 
should observe and do, till the end of the world. Thus 
we come to the one rule, taking the Old Testament 
as explained and perfected by the New, and the New 
as illustrated and enforced by the Old; assuming the 
latter as the proper and immediate directory for the 
Christian Church, as also for the positive and par- 
ticular duties of Christians as to all things whatsoever 
they should observe and do. Further, that in the ob- 
servance of this Divine rule, this authentic and infal- 
lible directory, all such may come to the desirable coin- 
cidence of holy unity and uniformity of profession 
and practice, we have overtured that they all speak, 
profess, and practice the very same things that are ex- 
hibited upon the sacred page of New Testament 
Scripture, as spoken and done by the Divine appoint- 
ment and approbation; and that this be extended to 
every possible instance of uniformity, without addition 
or diminution, without introducing anything of private 
opinion or doubtful disputation into the public profes- 
sion or practice of the Church. Thus and thus have 
we overtured to all intents and purposes, as may be 
clearly seen by consulting the overture itself ; in which, 
however, should anything appear not sufficiently ex- 
plicit, we flatter ourselves it may be fully understood 
by taking into consideration what has been variously 
suggested upon this important subject throughout the 
whole of these premises; so that if any due degree 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 97 

of attention be paid, we should think it next to im- 
possible that we could be so far misunderstood as to 
be charged with Latitudinarianism in any usual sense 
of the word. Here we have proposed but one descrip- 
tion of character as eligible, or, indeed, as at all ad- 
missible to the rights and privileges of Christianity. 
This description of character we have defined by cer- 
tain and distinguishing properties, which not only 
serve to distinguish it from every other, but in which 
all the real subjects themselves are agreed, without 
one exception, all such being mutually and reciprocally 
acknowledged by each other as legitimate members of 
the Church of God. All these, moreover, agreeing in 
the indispensable obligation of their unity, and in the 
one rule by which it is instructed, and also in the 
preceptive necessity of an entire uniformity in their 
public profession and managements for promoting and 
preserving this unity, that there should be no schism 
in the body, but that all the members should have the 
same care one for another; yet in many instances, 
unhappily, and, we may truly say, involuntarily differ- 
ing through mistake and mismanagement, which it is 
our humble desire and endeavor to detect and remove, 
by obviating everything that causeth difference, being 
persuaded that as truth is one and indivisible wherever 
it exists, so all the genuine subjects of it, if disen- 
tangled from artificial impediments, must and will nec- 
essarily fall in together, be all on one side, united in 
one profession, acknowledge each other as brethren, 
and love as children of the same family. For this 
purpose we have overtured a certain and determinate 
application of the rule, to which we presume there can 
be no reasonable objection, and which, if adopted and 
acted upon, must, we think, infallibly produce the 
desired effect; unless we should suppose that to say 
and do what is expressly said and done before our 



98 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

eyes upon the sacred page, would offend the believer, 
or that a strict uniformity, an entire Scriptural same- 
ness in profession and practice, would produce divi- 
sions and offenses among those who are already united 
in one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
hope of their calling, and in one God and Father of 
all, who is above all, and through all, and in them all, 
as is confessedly the case with all of this character 
throughout all the Churches. To induce to this we 
have also attempted to call their attention to the hein- 
nous nature and awful consequences of schism, and to 
that evil, antiscriptural principle from which it neces- 
sarily proceeds. We have likewise endeavored .to 
show, we humbly think, with demonstrable evidence, 
that there is no alternative but either to adopt that 
Scriptural uniformity we have recommended, or else 
continue as we are, bewildered in schisms and over- 
whelmed with the accursed evils inseparable from such 
a state. It remains now with our brethren to deter- 
mine upon the whole of these premises, to adopt or to 
reject, as they see cause; but, in the mean time, let 
none impeach us with the Latitudinarian expedient of 
substituting a vague, indefinite approbation of the holy 
Scriptures as an alternative for the present practice 
of making the approbation of human standards a term 
of communion; as it is undeniably evident that noth- 
ing can be further from our intention. Were we to 
judge of what we humbly propose and urge as indis- 
pensably necessary for the reformation and unity of 
the Church, we should rather apprehend that there 
was reason to fear a charge of a very different na- 
ture; namely, that we aimed at too much strictness, 
both as to the description of character which we say 
ought only to be admitted, and also as to the use and 
application of the rule. But should this be the case, 
we shall cheerfully bear with it, as being fully satisfied 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 99 

that not only the common sentiment of all apparently 
sincere, intelligent, and practical Christians is on our 
side, but that also the plainest and most ample testi- 
monies of the inspired volume sufficiently attest the 
truth and propriety of what we plead for, as essential 
to the Scriptural unity and purity of the Christian 
Church, and this, we humbly presume, is what we 
should incessantly aim at. It would be strange, in- 
deed, if, in contending earnestly for the faith once 
delivered to the saints, we should overlook those fruits 
of righteousness, that manifest humility, piety, tem- 
perance, justice, and charity, without which faith itself 
is dead, being alone. We trust we have not so learned 
Christ; if so be we have been taught by him as the 
truth is in Jesus, we must have learned a very different 
lesson indeed. While we would, therefore, insist upon 
an entire conformity to the Scriptures in profession, 
that we might all believe and speak the same things, 
and thus be perfectly joined together in the same mind 
and in the same judgment, we would, with equal 
scrupulosity, insist upon and look for an entire con- 
formity to them in practice, in all those whom we 
acknowledge as our brethren in Christ. "By their 
fruits ye shall know them." "Not every one that 
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
dom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my 
Father which is in heaven. Therefore whosoever 
heareth those sayings of mine, and doeth them not, 
shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his 
house upon the sand. Woe unto you scribes and 
Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye say and do not." We 
therefore conclude that to advocate unity alone, how- 
ever desirable in itself, without at the same time purg- 
ing the Church of apparently unsanctified characters, 
even of all that can not show their faith by their 
works, would be, at best, but a poor, superficial, skin- 

Lorc 



100 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

deep reformation. It is from such characters, then, 
as the proposed reformation, if carried into effect, 
would entirely deprive of a name and a place in the 
Church, that we have the greatest reason to apprehend 
a determined and obstinate opposition. And alas! 
there are very many of this description, and in many 
places, of considerable influence. But neither should 
this discourage us, when we consider the expressly- 
revealed will of God upon this point, Ezek. xliv : 6, 9, 
with Matt, xiii: 15, 17; 1 Cor. v: 6, 13, with many 
other scriptures. Nor, in the end, will the multitude 
of unsanctified professors which the proposed reforma- 
tion would necessarily exclude, have any reason to 
rejoice in the unfaithfulness of those that either 
through ignorance, or for filthy lucre's sake, indulged 
them with a name and place in the Church of God. 
These unfaithful stewards, these now mistaken 
friends, will one day be considered by such as their 
most cruel and treacherous enemies. These, then, are 
our sentiments upon the entire subject of Church-re- 
formation; call it Latitudinarianism, or Puritanism, 
or what you please; and this is the reformation for 
which we plead. Thus, upon the whole, have we 
briefly attempted to point out those evils, and to pre- 
vent those mistakes which we earnestly desire to see 
obviated for the general peace, welfare, and prosper- 
ity of the Church of God. Our dear brethren, giving 
credit to our sincere and well-meant intention, will 
charitably excuse the imperfections of our humble per- 
formance, and by the assistance of their better judg- 
ment correct those mistakes and supply those defi- 
ciencies which in a first attempt of this nature may 
have escaped our notice. We are sorry, in the mean 
time, to have left a necessity of approaching so near 
the borders of controversy, by briefly attempting to 
answer objections which we plainly foresaw would, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 101 

through mistake or prejudice, be made against our pro- 
ceedings ; controversy making no part of our intend- 
ed plan. But such objections and surmises having al- 
ready reached our ears from different quarters, we 
thought it necessary to attend to them, that, by so do- 
ing, we might not only prevent mistakes, but also save 
our friends the trouble of entering into verbal disputes 
in order to remove them, and thus prevent, as much as 
possible, that most unhappy of all practices sanctioned 
by the plausible pretense of zeal for the truth — relig- 
ious controversy among professors. We would, there- 
fore, humbly advise our friends to concur with us in 
our professed and sincere intention to avoid this evil 
practice. Let it suffice to put into the hands of such 
as desire information what we hereby publish for that 
purpose. If this, however, should not satisfy, let them 
give in their objections in writing; we shall thank- 
fully receive, and seriously consider, with all due at- 
tention, whatever comes before us in this way; but 
verbal controversy we absolutely refuse. Let none 
imagine that by so saying, we mean to dissuade Chris- 
tians from affording all the assistance they can to each 
other as humble inquirers after truth. To decline this 
friendly office would be to refuse the performance of 
an important duty. But certainly there is a manifest 
difference between speaking the truth in love for the 
edification of our brethren, and attacking each other 
with a spirit of controversial hostility, to confute and 
prove each other wrong. We believe it is rare to find 
one instance of this kind of arguing that does not 
terminate in bitterness. Let us, therefore, cautiously 
avoid it. Our Lord says, Matt, xvii : 7 : "Woe unto 
the world because of offenses." Scott, in his incom- 
parable work lately published in this country, called 
his Family Bible, observes in his notes upon this place, 
"that our Lord here intends all these evils within the 



102 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

Church which prejudice men's minds against his re- 
ligion, or any doctrines of it. The scandalous lives, 
horrible oppressions, cruelties, and iniquities of men 
called Christians; their divisions and bloody conten- 
tions; their idolatries and superstitions, are at this 
day the great offenses and causes of stumbling to Jews, 
Mohammedans, and pagans in all the four quarters of 
the globe, and they furnish infidels of every descrip- 
tion with their most dangerous weapons against the 
truth. The acrimonious controversies agitated among 
those who agree in the principal doctrines of the 
Gospel, and their mutual contempt and revilings of 
each other, together with the extravagant notions and 
wicked practices found among them, form the grand 
prejudice in the minds of multitudes against evangeli- 
cal religion, and harden the hearts of heretics, Phar- 
isees, disguised infidels, and careless sinners against 
the truths of the Gospel. In these and numberless 
other ways, it may be said : 'Woe unto the world be- 
cause of offenses,' for the devil, the sower of these 
tares, makes use of them in deceiving the nations of, 
the earth and in murdering the souls of men. In the 
present state of human nature, it must needs be that 
such offenses should intervene, and God has wise and 
righteous reasons for permitting them ; yet we should 
consider it as the greatest of evils to be accessory to 
the destruction of souls; and an awful woe is de- 
nounced against every one whose delusions or crimes 
thus stumble men and set them against the only method 
of salvation." We conclude with an extract from the 
Boston Anthology, which, with too many of the same 
kind that might be adduced, furnish a mournful com- 
ment upon the text; we mean, upon the sorrowful 
subject of our woful divisions and corruptions. The 
following reply to the Rev. Mr. Cram, missionary 
from Massachusetts to the Senecas, was made by the 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 103 

principal chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations in 
council assembled at Buffalo creek, State of New 
York, in the presence of the agent of the United 
States for Indian affairs, in the summer of 1805 : "I 
am come, brethren," said the missionary, "to enlighten 
your minds and to instruct you how to worship the 
Great Spirit agreeably to his will, and to preach to 
you the Gospel of his Son Jesus Christ. There is but 
one way to serve God, and if you do not embrace the 
right way, you can not be happy hereafter.' ' To which 
they replied : "Brother, we understand that your re- 
ligion is written in a book. You say that there is but 
one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there 
be but one religion, why do you white people differ 
so much about it ? Why not all agree, as you can all 
read the book? Brother, we do not understand these 
things. We are told your religion was given to your 
forefathers ; we also have a religion which was given to 
our forefathers ; it teaches us to be thankful for w all the 
favors we receive ; to love one another, and to be 
united. We never quarrel about religion. We are told 
you have been preaching to the white people in this 
place. Those people are our neighbors, we are ac- 
quainted with them. We will wait a little to see what 
effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it 
does them good, makes them honest, and less disposed 
to cheat Indians, we will then consider again of what 
you have said." Thus closed the conference. Alas, 
poor people! how do our divisions and corruptions 
stand in your way ! What a pity that you find us not 
upon original ground, such as the apostles left the 
primitive Churches! Had we but exhibited to you 
their unity and charity; their humble, honest, and 
affectionate deportment toward each other and toward 
all men, you would not have had those evil and shame- 
ful things to object to our holy religion, and to pre- 



104 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

judice your minds against it. But your conversion, it 
seems, awaits our reformation; awaits our return to 
primitive unity and love. To this may the God of 
mercy speedily restore us, both for your sakes and our 
own, that'/m way may be known upon earth, and his 
saving health among all nations. Let the people praise 
thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Amen, 
and amen. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 105 



SERMON ON THE LAW. 



By Alexander Campbell. 

Alexander Campbell was born September 12, 1788, in County 
Antrim, Ireland. Came to America in 1809. Died at Bethany, 
W. Va., March 4, 1866. 

Requests have occasionally, during several years, 
been made for the publication, in this work, of a dis- 
course on the Law, pronounced by me at a meeting of 
the Regular Baptist Association on Cross Creek, Vir- 
ginia, 1816. Recently these requests have been re- 
newed with more earnestness; and, although much 
crowded for room, I have concluded to comply with 
the wishes of my friends. 

It was rather a youthful performance, and is in 
one particular, to my mind, long since exceptionable. 
Its views of the Atonement are rather commercial 
than evangelical. But this was only casually intro- 
duced, and does not affect the object of the discourse 
or trie merits of the great question discussed in it. I 
thought it better to let it go to the public again with- 
out the change of a sentiment in it. Although pre- 
cisely thirty years this month since I delivered it, and 
some two or three years after my union with the 
Baptist denomination, the intelligent reader will dis- 
cover in it the elements of things which have character- 
ized all our writings on the subject of modern Chris- 
tianity from that day to the present. 

But as this discourse was, because of its alleged 
heterodoxy by the Regular Baptist Association, made 
the ground of my impeachment and trial for heresy at 



106 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

its next annual meeting, it is, as an item of ecclesias- 
tic history, interesting. It was by a great effort on 
my part that this self-same Sermon on the Law had 
not proved my public excommunication from the de- 
nomination under the foul brand of "damnable 
heresy/' But by a great stretch of charity on the part 
of two or three old men, I was saved by a decided 
maj ority. 

This unfortunate sermon afterwards involved me in 
a seven years' war with some members of said Associa- 
tion, and became a matter of much debate. I found at 
last, however, that there was a principle at work in the 
plotters of said crusade, which Stephen assigns as the 
cause of the misfortunes of Joseph. 

It is, therefore, highly probable to my mind, that 
but for the persecution begun on the alleged heresy of 
this sermon, whether the present reformation had ever 
been advocated by me. I have a curious history of 
many links on this chain of providential events, yet 
unwritten and unknown to almost any one living — cer- 
tainly to but a very few persons — which, as the waves 
of time roll on, may yet be interesting to many. It 
may be gratifying to some, however, at present to be 
informed that but one of the prime movers of this pre- 
sumptive movement yet lives ; and, alas ! he has long 
since survived his usefulness. I may further say at 
present, that I do not think there is a Baptist Associa- 
tion on the continent that would now treat me as did 
the Redstone Association of that day, which is some 
evidence, to my mind, that the Baptists are not so 
stationary as a few of them would have the world 
believe. 

But the discourse speaks for itself. It was indeed, 
rather an extemporaneous address ; for the same spirit 
that assailed the discourse when pronounced, and when 
printed, reversed the resolution of the Association 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 107 

passed on Saturday evening, inviting me to address the 
audience on Lord's day, and had another person ap- 
pointed in my place. He providentially was suddenly 
seized by sickness, and I was unexpectedly called upon 
in the morning, two hours before the discourse was 
spoken. A motion was made in the interval, that same 
day, by the same spirit of jealousy or zealousy, that 
public opinion should be arrested by having a preacher 
appointed to inform the congregation on the spot that 
my "discourse was not Baptist doctrine.'' 

One preacher replied that it might be "Christian 
doctrine;" for his part it was new to him, and desired 
time for examination. I was, therefore, obliged to 
gather it up from a few notes, and commit it to writ- 
ing. It was instantly called for to be printed, and 
after one year's deliberation, at next association, a 
party was formed to indict me for heresy on the pub- 
lished discourse. A committee met ; resolutions were 
passed on Friday night. The next day was fixed for 
my trial ; and, after asking counsel of Heaven, my ser- 
mon was called for, and the suit commenced. I was 
taken almost by surprise. On my offering immediately 
to go into an investigation of the matter, it was 
partially discussed; but on the ground of having no 
jurisdiction in the case, the Association resolved to dis- 
miss the sermon, without any fuller mark of reproba- 
tion, and leave every one to form his own opinion of it. 
I presume our readers, without any license from an 
Association, will form their own opinion of it; and 
therefore we submit it to their candid perusal. 

A. C. 



108 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 



THE SUBSTANCE OF A SERMON. 

Delivered before the Redstone Baptist Association, met 
on Cross Creek, Brook County, Va., on the 1st of 
September, 1816. 

BY ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, 

One of the Pastors of the Church of Brush Run, 
Washington County, Pa. 

"The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus 

Christ."— John 1 : 17. 
'The law and the prophets were until John, since that time the 

kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into 

it."— Luke 16:16. 



PREFACE. 

To those who have requested the publication of the 
following discourse, an apology is necessary. Though 
the substance of the discourse, as delivered, is con- 
tained in the following pages, yet, it is not verbatim 
the same. Indeed, this could not be the case, as the 
preacher makes but a very sparing use of notes, and 
on this occasion, had but a few. In speaking extem- 
pore, or in a great measure so, and to a people who 
may have but one hearing of a discussion such as the 
following, many expressions that would be superfluous 
in a written discourse, are in a certain sense necessary. 
When words are merely pronounced, repetitions are 
often needful to impress the subject on the mind of 
the most attentive hearer: but when written, the 
reader may pause, read again, and thus arrive at the 
meaning. 

Some additions, illustrative of the ideas that were 
presented in speaking, have been made ; but as few as 
could be supposed necessary. Indeed, the chief diffi- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 109 

culty in enforcing the doctrine contained in the follow- 
ing sheets, either in one spoken or written sermon, con- 
sists in the most judicious selection of the copious facts 
and documents contained in the divine word on this 
subject. 

We have to regret that so much appears necessary 
to be said, in an argumentative way, to the professed 
Christians of this age, on such a topic. But this is 
easily accounted for on certain principles. For, in 
truth, the present popular exhibition of Christianity is 
a compound of Judaism, heathen philosophy, and 
Christianity; which, like the materials in Nebuchad- 
nezzar's image, does not well cement together. 

The only correct and safe course, in this perilous 
age, is to take nothing upon trust, but to examine for 
ourselves, and "to bring all things to the test." "But 
if any man will be ignorant, let him be ignorant." 

As to the style adopted in this discourse, it is such 
as we supposed would be adapted to the capacity of 
those who are chiefly benefited by such discussions. 
"For their sakes we endeavor to use great plainness of 
speech." 

As the doctrines of the gospel are commonly hid 
from the wise and prudent, and revealed only to babes, 
the weak and foolish; for their sakes, the vail of 
what is falsely called eloquence should be laid aside, 
and the testimony of God plainly presented to view. 

The great question with every man's conscience is, 
or should be, "What is truth?" Not, have any of 
the scribes or rulers of the people believed it? Every 
man's eternal all, as well as his present comfort, de- 
pends upon what answer he is able to give to the ques- 
tion Pilate of old [John xviii, 38] proposed to Christ, 
without waiting for a reply. Such a question can only 
be satisfactorily answered by an impartial appeal to 
the oracles of truth — the alone standard of Divine 



110 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

truth. To these we appeal. Whatever in this dis- 
course is contrary to them, let it be expunged; what 
corresponds with them, may the God of truth bless to 
those to whom he has given an ear to discern and a 
heart to receive it. 

ROMANS vm, 3. 

''For what the law could not do, in that it was weak 
through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in 
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned 
sin in the flesh." 

Words are signs of ideas or thoughts. Unless words 
are understood, ideas or sentiments can neither be 
communicated nor received. Words that in themselves 
are quite intelligible may become difficult to under- 
stand in different connections and circumstances. One 
of the most important words in our text is of easy 
signification, and yet, in consequence of its diverse 
usages and epithets, it is sometimes difficult precisely 
to ascertain what ideas should be attached to it. 

It is the term law. But by a close investigation of 
the context, and a general knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures, every difficulty of this kind may be easily sur- 
mounted. 

In order to elucidate and enforce the doctrine con- 
tained in this verse, we shall scrupulously observe the 
following 

METHOD. 

1. We shall endeavor to ascertain what ideas we are 
to attach to the phrase "the law," in this and similar 
portions of the Sacred Scriptures. 

2. Point out those things which the law could not 
accomplish. 

3. Demonstrate the reason why the law failed to 
accomplish those objects. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. Ill 

4. Illustrate how God has remedied those relative 
defects of the laiv. 

5. In the last place, deduce such conclusions from 
these premises, as must obviously and necessarily 
present themselves to every unbiased and reflecting 
mind. 

In discussing the doctrine contained in our text, we 
are then, in the first place, to endeavor to ascertain 
what ideas we are to attach to the terms "the laiv" in 
this and similar portions of the Sacred Scriptures. 

The term "law" denotes in common usage, "a 
rule of action." It was used by the Jews, until the 
time of our Saviour, to distinguish the whole revela- 
tion made to the Patriarchs and Prophets from the 
traditions and commandments of the Rabbis or Doc- 
tors of the law. Thus the Jews called the Psalms of 
David, law. — John xii, 34. Referring to the 110th 
Psalm, they say, "We have heard out of the law that 
Christ abideth forever." 

And again, our Saviour calls the Psalms of David 
law, John x, 34. Referring to Psalm lxxxii, 6, 
he says, "Is it not written in your law, I said ye are 
gods." Thus when we hear David extolling God's 
law, we are to understand him as referring to all 
divine revelation extant in his time. 

But when the Old Testament Scriptures were finish- 
ed and divided according to their contents for the use 
of synagogues, the Jews styled them the law, the 
prophets and the psalms. 

Luke xxiv, 44, Christ says, "All things written in 
the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms 
concerning me, must be fulfilled." 

The addition of the definite article in this instance 
as well as all others, alters the signification or at least 
determines it. During the life of Moses, the words 
"the law" without some explicative addition, were 



112 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

never used. Joshua, Moses' successor, denominates 
the writings of Moses, "the book of the law;" but 
never uses the phrase by itself. Nor, indeed, have we 
an}' authentic account of this phrase being used with- 
out some restrictive definition, until the reign of Abi- 
jah, 2d Chron. xiv, 4, at which time it is used to de- 
note the whole legal dispensation by Moses. In this 
way it is used about thirty times in the Old Testament, 
and as often with such epithets as show that the whole 
law of Moses is intended. 

When the doctrines of the reign of Heaven began 
to be preached, and to be contrasted in the New Testa- 
ment with the Mosaic economy, the phrase "the law" 
became very common, and when used without any 
distinguishing epithet or restrictive definition, in- 
variably denoted the whole legal or Mosaic dispensa- 
tion. In this acceptation it occurs about 150 times in 
the New Testament. 

To make myself more intelligible, I would observe 
that when the terms "the law" have such distinguish- 
ing properties or restrictive definitions as "the royal 
law," "the law of faith," "the law of liberty," "the 
law of Christ," "the law of the spirit of life," &c, it 
is most obvious the whole Mosaic law or dispensation 
is not intended. But when we find the phrase "the 
law," without any such limitations or epithets as "the 
law was given by Moses," "the law and the prophets 
were until John," "if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are 
not under the law," "ye are not under the law, but 
under grace," &c, we must perceive the whole law of 
Moses, or legal dispensation, is intended. 

I say the whole law, or dispensation by Moses ; for 
in modern times the law of Moses is divided and clas- 
sified under three heads, denominated, the moral, cere- 
monial, and judicial law. This division of the law be- 
ing unknown in the apostolic age, and, of course, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 113 

never used by the Apostles, can serve no valuable pur- 
pose in obtaining a correct knowledge of the doctrine 
delivered by the Apostles respecting the law. You 
might as well inquire of the Apostles, or consult their 
writings to know who the Supralapsarians or Sublap- 
sarians are, as to inquire of them what is the moral, 
ceremonial or judicial law. 

But, like many distinctions handed down to us from 
mystical Babylon, they bear the mark on their fore- 
head that certifies to us, their origin is not Divine. If 
this distinction were harmless, if it did not perplex, 
bias and confound, rather than assist the judgment in 
determining the sense of the apostolic writing, we 
should let it pass unnoticed; but justice to the truth 
requires us to make a remark or two on this division of 
the law. 

The phrase the moral law, includes that part of the 
law of Moses "written and engraved on two tables 
of stone," called the ten commandments. Now the 
word moral, according to the most approved Lexicog- 
raphers, is defined "relating to the practice of men 
toward each other, as it may be virtuous or criminal, 
good or bad." The French, from whom we have the 
term moral immediately, and the Romans from whom 
we orginally received it, used it agreeably to the above 
definition. Of course, then, a moral law is a law 
which regulates the conduct of men toward each 
other. 

But will the ten commandments answer this defini- 
tion ? No. For Doctors of Divinity tell us, the first 
table of the Decalogue respects our duty to God ; the 
second our duty to man. 

Why then call the ten commandments "the moral 
law," seeing but six of them are moral, that is, re- 
lating to our conduct towards men ? In modern times 
we sometimes distinguish between religion and moral- 



114 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ity ; but while we affirm that religion is one thing, and 
morality another; and then affirm that the ten com- 
mandments are the moral law — do we not, in so say- 
ing, contradict ourselves? Assuredly the legs of the 
lame are not equal ! 

A second objection to denominating the ten precepts 
"the moral law," presents itself to the reflecting mind, 
from the consideration that all morality is not con- 
tained in them. When it is said that the ten com- 
mandments are "the moral law," does not this definite 
phrase imply that all morality is contained in them; 
or, what is the same in effect, that all immorality is 
prohibited in them ? 

But, is this the fact? Are the immoralities called 
drunkenness, fornication, polygamy, divorces on tri- 
fling accounts, retaliation, &c, prohibited in. the ten 
precepts ? This question must be answered in the neg- 
ative. 

If it had been asked, is all immorality prohibited in 
this saying, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
self?" wx would readily answer yes; but it is the so- 
called moral law we are speaking of. We affirm, then, 
that the above immoralities are not prohibited in the 
Decalogue, according to the most obvious construction 
of the w T ords. We are aware that large volumes have 
been written to show how much is comprehended in 
the ten precepts. But, methinks, the voluminous 
works of some learned men on this subject too much 
resemble the writings of Peter D'Alva, who wrote 
forty-eight huge folio volumes to explain the mysteries 
of the conception of the Messiah in the womb of the 
Virgin Mary ! And what shall we think of the genius 
who discovered that singing hymns and spiritual songs 
was prohibited, and the office of the Ruling Elder 
pointed out in the second commandment? That danc- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 115 

ing and stage plays were prohibited in the seventh; 
and supporting the clergy enjoined in the eighth! 

According to this latitude of interpretation, a genius 
may arise and show us that law and gospel are con- 
tained in the first commandment, and of course all the 
others are superfluous. 

But this way of enlarging on the Decalogue defeats 
the division of the law of Moses, which these Doctors 
have made. 

For instance, they tell us that witchcraft is prohibit- 
ed in the first commandment — incest and sodomy in 
the seventh. 

Now they afterwards place these vices, with the laws 
respecting them, in their judicial law; if, then, their 
moral law includes their judicial law, they make a dis- 
tinction without a difference. 

There remains another objection to this division of 
the law. It sets itself in opposition to the skill of the 
Apostle, and ultimately deters us from speaking of the 
ten precepts as he did. 

Paul, according to the wisdom given unto him, de- 
nominated the ten precepts the "ministration of con- 
demnation and of death;" 2d Cor. iii, 7-14. This we 
call the moral law. Whether he or we are to be es- 
teemed the most able ministers of Christ it remains for 
you, my friends, to say. 

Paul having called the ten precepts the ministration 
of death, next affirms that it was to be done away — 
and that it was done away. Now the calling the ten 
precepts "the moral law," is not only a violation of 
the use of words ; is not only inconsistent in itself and 
contradictory to truth; but greatly obscures the doc- 
trine taught by the Apostles in the 3d chapter, 2d 
Cor., and in similar passages, so as to render it almost, 
if not altogether, unintelligible to us. To use the same 
language of the moral law as he used in respect to the 



116 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

minstration of condemnation and death, is shocking to 
many devout ears. When we say the moral law is 
done away, the religious world is alarmed ; but when 
we declare the ministration of condemnation is done 
away they hear us patiently, not knowing what we 
mean. To give new names to ancient things, and 
speak of them according to their ancient names, is 
perplexing indeed. Suppose, for example, I would call 
the English law which governed these States when 
colonies, the constitution of the United States, and 
then affirm that the constitution of the United States 
is done away, or abolished, who would believe me? 
But if the people were informed that what I called 
the constitution of these States was the obsolete Brit- 
ish law, they would assent to my statement. Who 
would not discover that the giving of a wrong name 
was the sole cause of such a misunderstanding ? 

Hence it is that modern teachers by their innova- 
tions concerning law, have perplexed the student of 
the Bible, and cause many a fruitless controversy, as 
unnecessary as that relating to the mark set on Cain. 
It does not militate with this statement to grant that 
some of the precepts of the Decalogue have been re- 
promulgated by Jesus Christ, any more than the re- 
promulgation of some of the British laws does not 
prevent us from affirming that the laws under which 
the colonies existed are done away to the citizens of 
the United States. But of this more afterwards. 

To what has been said it may be added, that the 
modern division of the law tends very much to perplex 
any person who wishes to understand the Epistles to 
the Romans, Galatians and Hebrews; insomuch that 
while the hearer keeps this distinction in mind, he is 
continually at a loss to know whether the moral, cer- 
emonial, or judicial law is intended. 

Before dismissing this part of the subject we would 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 117 

observe that there are two principles, commandments 
or laws that are never included in our observations re- 
specting the law of Moses, nor are they ever in Holy- 
Writ called the law of Moses : These are, "Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind 
and strength; and thy neighbor as thyself." These 
our Great Prophet teaches us, are the basis of the law 
of Moses, and of the Prophets : "On these two com- 
mandments hang all the law and the prophets." In- 
deed the Sinai law and all the Jewish law is but a mod- 
ification of them. These are of universal and immut- 
able obligation. 

Angels and men, good and bad, are forever under 
them. God as our Creator, cannot require less; nor 
can we, as creatures and fellow-creatures, propose or 
expect less, as the standard of duty and perfection. 
These are coeval with angels and men. They are en- 
graven with more or less clearness on every human 
heart. These are the ground work or basis of the law, 
written in the heart of heathens, which constitute their 
conscience, or knowledge of right or wrong. 

By these their thoughts mutually accuse or else ex- 
cuse one another. 

By these they shall be judged, or at least, all who 
have never seen or heard a written law or revelation. 
But for these principles there had never been either 
law or gospel. 

Let it then be remembered, that in the Scriptures 
these precepts are considered the basis of all law and 
prophecy ; consequently when we speak of the law of 
Moses we do not include these commandments, but 
that whole modification of them sometimes called the 
legal dispensation. 

It must also be observed that the Apostles sometimes 
speak of the law, when it is obvious that a certain part 
only is intended. But this so far from clashing with 



118 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

the preceeding observations fully corroborates them. 
For if the Apostle refers to any particular part of the 
law, under the general terms, the law, and speaks of 
the whole dispensation in the same terms without any 
additional definition, then, doubtless, the phrase the 
law, denotes the whole legal dispensation, and not any 
particular law or new distinction to which we may 
affix the words, the law. 

1. We shall not attempt to point out those things 
which the law could not accomplish. 

In the first place, it could not give righteousness and 
life. Righteousness and eternal life are inseparably 
connected. 

Where the former is not, the latter cannot be enjoy- 
ed. Whatever means put us in possession of one puts 
us in possession of the other. 

But this the law could not do. "For if there had 
been a law given which could have given life, verily, 
righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. iii, 
21). "If righteousness come by the law, then Christ 
is dead in vain." These testimonies of the Apostle, 
with the whole scope of divine truth, teach us that no 
man is justified by the law, that righteousness and 
eternal life can not be received through it. 

Here we must regret that our translators by an in- 
judicious supplement should have made the Apostle ap- 
parently contradict himself. I allude to the supple- 
ment in the 10th verse of Rom., 7th chap. From the 
7th verse of this chapter, the Apostle narrated his ex- 
perience as a Jew under the law, and then his experi- 
ence as a Christian under the gospel, freed from the 
law. The scope of the 10th verse and its context is 
to show what the Apostle once thought of the law, and 
how his mistakes were corrected. If any supplement 
be necessary in this verse, we apprehend it should be 
similar to what follows: "And the commandment 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 119 

(which I thought would give me) life, I found (to 
lead) to death." This doubtless corresponds with the 
scope of the context, and does not, like the present sup- 
plement, clash with Gal. iii, 21. 

Indeed the law, so far from being "ordained to give 
life," was merely "added to the promise of life till 
the seed should come to whom the promise was made." 
"Moreover the law entered that the offense might 
abound" — "For by the law was the knowledge of sin." 
For these reasons we conclude that justification, right- 
eousness and eternal life cannot by any means be 
obtained by the law. 

2. In the second place, the law could not exhibit the 
malignity or demerit of sin. 

It taught those that were under it that certain ac- 
tions were sinful. To these sinful actions it gave de- 
scriptive names — one is called theft, a second murder, 
a third adultery. It showed that these actions were 
offensive to God, hurtful to men, and deserved death. 
But how extensive their malignity and vast their de- 
merit the law could not exhibit. 

This remained for later times and other means to 
develop. 

3. In the third place, the law could not be a suitable 
rule of life to mankind in this imperfect state. It could 
not be to all mankind, as it was given to and designed 
only for a part. It was given to the Jewish nation, 
and to none else. 

As the inscription on a letter, identifies to whom it 
belongs; as the preamble to a proclamation, distin- 
guishes who is addressed; so the preface to the law, 
points out and determines to whom it was given. 

It points out a people brought out of the land of 
Egypt and released from the house of bondage, as the 
subjects of it. To extend it farther than its own pref- 
ace, is to violate the rules of criticism and propriety. 



120 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

How unjust and improper would it be, to convey the 
contents of a letter to a person to whom it was not 
directed — how inconsistent to enjoin the items of a 
proclamation made by the President of these United 
States, on the subjects of the French government. 
As inconsistent would it be to extend the law of Moses 
beyond the limits of the Jewish nation. 

Do we not know with Paul, that what things soever 
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law ? 
But even to the Jews it was not the most suitable rule 
of life. 'Tis universally agreed, that example, as a 
rule of life, is more influential than precept. Now the 
whole Mosaic law wanted a model or example of liv- 
ing perfection. The most exemplary characters under 
the law, had their notable imperfections. 

And as long as polygamy, divorces, slavery, revenge, 
etc., were winked at under that law, so long must the 
lives of its best subjects be stained with glaring imper- 
fections. But when we illustrate how God has reme- 
died the defects of the law, the ideas presented in 
this particular shall be more fully confirmed. 

But we hasten to the third thing proposed in our 
method, which is to demonstrate the reason why the 
law could not accomplish these objects. 

The Apostle in our text briefly informs us, that it 
was owing to human weakness that the law failed to 
accomplish these things — "In that it was weak through 
the flesh." The defects of the law are of a relative 
kind. It is not in itself weak or sinful — some part of 
it was holy, just and good — other parts of it were ele- 
mentary, shadowy, representations of good things to 
come. But that part of it written and engraven on 
tables of stone, which was holy, just and good, failed 
in that it was too high, sublime and spiritual to regu- 
late so weak a mortal as fallen man. And even when 
its oblations and sacrifices were presented, there was 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 121 

something too vast and sublime, for such weak means, 
such carnal commandments — such beggarly elements — 
such perishable and insignificant blood, to effect. So 
that as the Apostle saith, the law made nothing per- 
fect, it merely introduced a better hope. If the law had 
been faultless, no place should have been found for the 
gospel. We may then fairly conclude that the spiritu- 
ality, holiness, justice and goodness of one part of the 
law, rendered it too high; and the carnal, weak and 
beggarly elements of another part, rendered it too 
low ; and both together became weak through the 
flesh. Viewing the law in this light, we can suitably 
apply the words of the Spirit uttered by Ezk. xx: 25, 
in relation to its incompetence — "I gave them," says 
he, "statutes which were not good, and judgments 
whereby they should not live." 

We have now arrived at the fourth head of our 
discourse, in which we propose to illustrate the means 
by which God has remedied the relative defects of 
the law. 

All those defects the Eternal Father remedies, by 
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and 
for sin, condemns sin in the flesh. "That the whole 
righteousness which the law required, might be ful- 
filled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the 
Spirit." 

The primary deficiency of the law which we noticed, 
was, that it could not give righteousness and eter- 
nal life. 

Now, the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the 
Father,, in the likeness of sinful flesh, makes an end 
of sin, makes reconciliation for iniquity, finishes trans- 
gression, brings in an everlasting righteousness, and 
completes eternal redemption for sinners. 

He magnifies the law and makes it honorable. All 
this he achieves by his obedience unto death. He 



122 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

finished the work which the Father gave him to do ; so 
that in him all believers, all the spiritual seed of Abra- 
ham, find righteousness and eternal life ; not by legal 
works or observances, in whole or in part, but through 
the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness, 
which is by him; — "For the gift of God is eternal 
life through Jesus Christ our Lord." This righteous- 
ness, and its concomitant eternal life, are revealed 
from faith to faith — the information or report of it 
comes in the divine word to our ears, and receiving the 
report of it, or believing the divine testimony concern- 
ing it, brings us into the enjoyment of its blessings. 
Hence it is that Christ is the end of the law for right- 
eousness to every one that believeth. Nor is he on this 
account the minister of sin — for thus the righteous- 
ness, the perfect righteousness of the law, is fulfilled in 
us who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
Do we then make void the law or destroy the right- 
eousness of it by faith? God forbid: we establish 
the law. 

A second thing which we observed the law could not 
do, was to give a full exhibition of the demerit of sin. 
It is acknowledged that the demerit of sin was partial- 
ly developed in the law, and before the law. Sin was 
condemned in the deluge, in the confusion of human 
speech, in turning to ashes the cities of the plain, in 
the thousands that fell in the wilderness. But these 
and a thousand similar monuments beside, fall vastly 
short of giving a full exhibition of sin in its malignant 
nature and destructive consequences. But a full dis- 
covery of its nature and demerits is given us in the 
person of Jesus Christ. God condemned sin in Him — 
God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up. 
It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, to pour out His 
soul an offering for sin. When we view the Son of the 
Eternal suspended on the accursed tree — when we see 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 123 

Him in the garden, and hear His petitions — when we 
hear Him exclaim, "My God, my God, why hast Thou 
forsaken Me?" — in a word, when we see Him expiring 
in blood and laid in the tomb, we have a monument of 
the demerit of sin which no law could give, which no 
temporal calamity could exhibit. 

We sometimes in the vanity of our minds, talk light- 
ly of the demerit of sin, and irreverently of the atone- 
ment. In this age of novelty, it is said "that the suf- 
ferings of Christ were so great as to atone for the sins 
of worlds on worlds," or at least for the sins of the 
damned as well as the saved — that "one drop of His 
blood is sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole 
world." That is, in other words, the sufferings of 
Christ so transcended the demerit of the sins of His 
people as to be sufficient to save all that shall eternally 
perish. These assertions are as unreasonable as un- 
scriptural. In our zeal to exalt the merits of the 
atonement — I say, in the warmth of our passions, 
and in the fullness of our hearts — let us be cautious 
lest we impeach the Divine wisdom and prudence. 
Doubtless, if the merits of His sufferings transcend 
the demerit of His people's sins, then some of His 
sufferings were in vain, and some of His merit un- 
rewarded. To avoid this conclusion, some have affirm- 
ed that all shall be saved and none perish, contrary to 
the express word of God. Indeed, the transition from 
these inconsistent views of the atonement, to what is 
called Universalism, is short and easy. But I would 
humbly propose a few inquiries on this subject. Why 
do the evangelists inform us that Christ died so soon 
after His suspension on the cross ? Why so much mar- 
vel expressed that He was so soon dead? — so much 
sooner than the malefactors that were crucified with 
Him? It might be presumed His last words solve these 
difficulties — "It is finished, and He gave up the ghost." 



124 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

From these and similar premises, it would seem that 
His life and sufferings were prolonged just so long as 
was necessary to complete the redemption of His 
people. We are accustomed on all subjects that ad- 
mit of it, to distinguish between quantity and quality. 
In the common concerns of human intercourse some- 
times the quality of a thing is acceptable when the 
quantity is not ; at other times the quantity is accept- 
able when the quality is not. If a thousand slaves 
were to be redeemed and emancipated by means of 
gold, the person in whose custody they were could not 
demand any more precious metal than gold — when one 
piece of gold was presented to him he might object to 
the quantity as deficient, though the quality is unobjec- 
tionable. In respect of the means of our redemption, 
it must be allowed that the sufferings of Christ were 
they. These sufferings, then, were the sufferings of a 
divine person — such doubtless was their quality. And 
a life and sufferings of any other quality could avail 
nothing in effecting redemption for transgressors. If 
but one of Adam's race should be saved, a life and 
sufferings of such a quality would have been indispen- 
sably requisite to accomplish such a deliverance. Again, 
if more were to have been saved than what will even- 
tually be saved, the quantity and not the quality of 
His sufferings would have been augmented. The only 
sentiment respecting the atonement that will bear the 
test of Scripture, truth or sober reason, is, that the life 
and sufferings of Christ in quality, and in length or 
quantity, were such as sufficed to make reconciliation 
for all the sins of His chosen race ; or for all them in 
every age or nation that shall believe in Him. There 
was nothing deficient, nothing superfluous; else he 
shall never see of the travail of His soul and be satis- 
fied; which would be the reverse of His Father's 
promise, and His own expectation. When the life and 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 125 

sufferings of Christ are viewed in this light the demerit 
of sin appears in its true colors — all inconsistencies 
vanish, and all the testimonies of sacred truth, of Pa- 
triarchs, Prophets and Apostles harmoniously corre- 
spond. But if we suppose that the sufferings of Christ 
transcended the demerit of the sins of "His- people," 
then we have no full exhibition of the demerit of sin. 
Nor are "His people" under any more obligation of 
love or gratitude to Him than they who eternally 
perish. 

That which remains on this head is to show how the 
failure of the law in not being a suitable rule of life 
has been remedied. 

We noticed that example is a more powerful teacher 
than precept. Now Jesus Christ has afforded us an 
example of human perfection never witnessed before. 
He gave a living form to every moral and religious 
precept which they never before possessed. In this 
respect He was the distinguished Prophet to whom 
Moses and all the inferior prophets referred. In enter- 
ing on this prophetic office He taught with a peculiar- 
ity unexampled by all His predecessors — "He spake as 
never man spake." 

The highest commendation He gave of Moses was 
that he wrote of Him, and that he was a faithful ser- 
vant in Christ's house. From the beginning of his min- 
istry to the end of his life, he claimed the honor of 
being the only person that could instruct men in the 
knowledge of God or of His will. He claimed the 
honor of being the author and finisher of the only per- 
fect form of religion; the Eternal Father attested all 
his claims and honored all His pretensions. Respecting 
the ancient rules of life, the law and the prophets, He 
taught his disciples they had lived their day — he taught 
them they were given only for a limited time. "The 
law and the prophets prophesied until John" — then 



126 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

they gave place to a greater Prophet, and a more glori- 
ous law. Malachi, the last of the ancient prophets, 
informed Israel that they should strictly observe 
Moses' law, until a person should come in the spirit 
and power of Elias. Jesus taught us that John the 
Baptist was he, and that the law and prophets termi- 
nated at his entrance upon his ministry; for since that 
time the kingdom of God is preached, and all men 
press into it. To attest His character, and to convince 
the church of His being the great Prophet to whom all 
Christians should exclusively hearken as their teacher; 
to weaken the attachments of His disciples to Moses 
and the prophets, it pleased God to send down Moses 
and Elias from heaven; the one the law-giver, and the 
other the law-restorer, to resign their prophetic honors 
at the feet of the Messiah, in presence of select wit- 
nesses. "Jesus took with him Peter, James and John 
into a high mountain, and was transfigured before 
them, and His face did shine as the sun, and His rai- 
ment was white as snow, and behold there appeared 
Moses and Elias talking with him." Peter, enraptured 
with these heavenly visitants, proposes erecting three 
tabernacles — one for Christ, one for Moses, and one 
for Elias. But while he was thus proposing to asso- 
ciate Christ, the great Prophet, with Moses and Elias, 
inferior prophets, a bright cloud overshadowed them, 
and a voice came out of the cloud, an indirect reply to 
Peter's motion — "This is my beloved Son in whom I 
am well pleased, hear ye him." Thus when these an- 
cient and venerable prophets were recalled to heaven, 
Christ alone was left as the great Teacher, to whom, by 
a commandment from the excellent glory, the throne 
of the Eternal, we are obliged to hearken. That this 
transaction was significant of the doctrine above stated 
must be manifest, when we take into view all circum- 
stances. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 127 

Might it not be asked, "Why did not Abel, Abra- 
ham, or Enoch appear on this occasion?" The reason 
is plain — the disciples of Christ had no hurtful respect 
for them. — Moses and Elias, the reputed oracles of 
the Jewish nation, were the two, and the only two, in 
respect of whom this solemn and significant revocation 
was needful. The plain language of the whole occur- 
rence was this — Moses and Elias were excellent men — 
they were now glorified in heaven — they had lived 
their day — the limited time they were to flourish as 
teachers of the will of Heaven was now come to an 
end. The morning star had risen — nay, was almost 
set, and the Sun of Righteousness was arising with 
salutiferous rays. Let us then walk in the noon-day- 
light — let us hearken to Jesus as the Prophet and 
Legislator, Priest and King. He shall reign over all 
the ransomed race. We find all things whatsoever the 
law could not do are accomplished in him, and by him 
— that in him all Christians might be perfect and 
complete — "for the law was given by Moses, but grace 
and truth came by Jesus Christ." It now remains, in 
the last place, to deduce such conclusions from the 
above premises, as must obviously and necessarily 
present themselves to every candid and reflecting mind. 

1st. From what has been said, it follows that there 
is an essential difference between law and gospel — the 
Old Testament and the New.* 



* There are not a few professors of Christianity who suppose 
themselves under equal obligations to obey Moses or any other 
Prophet, as Christ and his Apostles. They cannot understand why 
any part of the divine relation should not be obligatory on a Chris- 
tian to observe ; nor can they see any reason why the New Testa- 
ment should be preferred to the Old ; or why they should not be 
regulated equally by each. They say, "Is it not all the word of 
God and are not all mankind addressed in it?" True, all the holy 
Prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, and men 



128 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

No two words are more distinct in their signification 
then lazv and gospel. They are contra-distinguished 
under various names in the New Testament. The law 
is denominated "the letter," "the ministration of con- 
demnation;" "the ministration of death;" "the Old 
Testament or Covenant, and Moses." The gospel is 
denominated "the Spirit," "the ministration of the 
Spirit," "the ministration of righteousness," "the 
New Testament, or Covenant," "the law of liberty 
and Christ." In respect of existence or duration, the 
former is denominated "that which is done away" — 
the latter, "that which remaineth" — the former was 
faulty, the latter faultless — the former demanded, this 
bestows righteousness — that gendered bondage, this 
liberty — that begat bond-slaves, this freemen — the 
former spake on this wise, "This do and thou shalt 



were the objects of their address. It is, however, equally evident 
that God at sundry times and in diverse manners spake to men, 
according to a variety of circumstances, which diversified their 
condition, capacity, and opportunities. Thus he addressed indi- 
viduals, and classes of individuals, in a way peculiar to themselves. 
Witness his addresses to Noah, Abraham, Daniel, Jonah, Paul and 
Peter. Witness his addresses to the Patriarchs, the Jews and the 
Christians. Again, men are addressed as magistrates, fathers, 
masters, husbands, teachers, with their correlates. Now to 
apply to one individual what is said to all individuals and classes 
of individuals, would, methinks, appear egregious folly. And 
would it not be absurd to say, that every man is obliged to 
practice every duty and religious precept enjoined in the Bible. 
Might we not as reasonably say, that every man must be at once 
a Patriarch, a Jew, and a Christain; a magistrate, a subject, a 
father, a child, a master, a servant, etc., etc. And, certainly, it is 
as inconsistent to say, that Christians should equally regard and 
obey the Old and New Testament. All Scripture given by divine 
inspiration, is profitable for various purposes in the perfection of 
saints, when rightly divided, and not handled deceitfully. But 
where the above considerations are disregarded, the word of God 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 129 

live" — this says, "Say not what ye shall do; the word 
is nigh thee, [that gives life,] the word of faith which 
we preach : if thou believe in thine heart the gospel, 
thou shalt be saved." The former waxed old, is abol- 
ished, and vanished away — the latter remains, lives, 
and is everlasting. 

2d. In the second place, we learn from what has 
been said, that "there is no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus." The premises from which 
the Apostles drew this conclusion are the same with 
those stated to you in this course. "Sin," says the 
Apostle, "shall not have dominion over you; for ye 
are not under the law, but under grace." In the 6th 
and 7th chapters to the Romans, the Apostle taught 
them that "they were not under the law" — that "they 
were freed from it" — "dead to it" — "delivered from 



must inevitably be perverted. Hence it is that many preachers 
deceive themselves and their hearers by selecting and applying to 
themselves and their hearers such portions of sacred truth 
as belong not to them nor their hearers. Even the Apostles could 
not apply the words of Christ to themselves or their hearers until 
they were able to answer a previous question — "Lord, sayest thou 
this unto us or unto all?" Nor could the eunuch understand the 
Prophet until he knew whether he spoke of himself or of some 
other man. Yet many preachers and hearers trouble not them- 
selves about such inquiries. If their text is in the Bible, it is no 
matter where ; and if their hearers be men and women, it is no 
matter whether Jews or Christians, believers or unbelievers. Often 
have I seen a preacher and his hearers undergo three or four 
metamorphoses in an hour. First he is a moral philosopher, incul- 
cating heathen morality; next a Jewish Rabbi, expounding the 
law; then a teacher of some Christian precept; and lastly, an 
ambassador of Christ, negotiating between God and man. The 
congregation undergo the correlate revolutions ; first, they are 
heathens ; next, Jews ; anon Christians ; and lastly, treating with 
the ambassadors for salvation, on what is called the terms of the 
gospel. Thus, Proteus-like, they are all things in an hour. 



130 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

it." In the 8th chapter, 1st verse, he draws the above 
conclusion. What a pity that modern teachers should 
have added to and clogged the words of inspiration by 
such unauthorized sentences as the following: "Ye 
are not under the law" as a covenant of works, but as 
a rule of life! Who ever read one word of the "cove- 
nant of works" in the Bible, or of the Jewish law 
being a rule of life to the disciples of Christ ? Of these 
you hear no more from the Bible than of the "Solemn 
League" or "St. Giles' Day." Yet how conspicuous 
are these and kindred phrases in the theological dis- 
cussions of these three last hundred years ! But leav- 
ing such phrases to those who are better skilled in the 
use of them, and have more leisure to expound them, 
we shall briefly notice the reason commonly assigned 
for proposing the law as a rule of life to Christians. 
"If Christians are taught," say they, "that they are 
delivered from the law, under it in no sense — that they 
are dead to it — will not they be led to live rather a 
licentious life, live as they list ; and will not the non- 
professing world, hearing that they are not under the 
law of Moses, become more wicked, more immoral and 
profane?" Such is the chief of all the objections 
made against the doctrine inculcated respecting the 
abolition of the Jewish law in respect of Christians, 
and also as this doctrine respects the Gentile or 
Heathen world. We shrink not from a fair and full 
investigation of this subject. Truth being the only 
allowed object of all our inquiries, and the sole object 
of every Christian's inquiry, we should patiently hear 
all objections — coolly and dispassionately hear, exam- 
ine, and weigh all arguments pro and con. 

That the first part of this objection is very natural, 
has been very often made, and strongly urged against 
the doctrine we advocate, we cheerfully acknowledge. 
As this objection was made against the Apostle's doc- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 131 

trine concerning the law, it affords a strong probabil- 
ity, at least, that our views on this subject correspond 
with his. We shall then hear how he stated and re- 
futed it. Romans vi, 15. "What then? Shall we sin 
because we are not under the law, but under grace?" 
Here he admits the objection, and in his answer incon- 
testably shows that Christians are not under the law in 
any sense. If they were in any sense, now was the 
time to say, "We are not under the law in some sense, 
or under a certain part of it ; but in one sense we are 
under it as a rule of life." We say the Apostle was 
here called upon, and in a certain sense bound, to say 
something like what our modern teachers say, if it had 
been warrantable. But he admits the doctrine and 
states the objection, leaving the doctrine unequivocally 
established. He guards the doctrine against a licen- 
tious tendency thus — "God forbid!" "How shall we 
that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" and in 
the subsequent verses shows the utter impossibility of 
any servant of God, or true Christian, so abusing the 
doctrine we have stated. Now whether the ancient 
way of guarding the New Testament, or gospel, 
against the charges of Antinomianism or a licentious 
tendency, or the modern way is best, methinks is easily 
decided amongst true disciples. Not so easy, however, 
amongst learned Rabbis and Doctors of the law. 

But, query — Is the law of Moses a rule of life to 
Christians? An advocate of the popular doctrine 
replies, "Not all of it." Query again — What part of 
it? "The ten commandments." Are these a rule of 
life to Christians? "Yes." Should not, then, Chris- 
tians sanctify the seventh day? "No." Why so? "Be- 
cause Christ has not enjoined it." Oh! then, the law 
or ten commandments is not a rule of life to Christians 
any further than it is enjoined by Christ; so that read- 
ing the precepts in Moses' words, or hearing him utter 



132 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

them, does not oblige us to observe them; it is only 
what Christ says we must observe. So that an advo- 
cate for the popular doctrine, when closely pressed, 
cannot maintain his ground. Let no man say we have 
proposed and answered the above queries as we please. 
If any other answers can be given by the advocates 
themselves than we have given, let them do it. But it 
is highly problematical whether telling Christians that 
they are under the law will repress a licentious spirit. 
True Christians do not need it, as we have seen : "how 
shall they that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" 
And dare we tell professing Christians, as such, that 
the law, as a rule of life, is a condemning law ? If not, 
then what tendency will the mere affirmation that they 
are under a law as a rule of life which cannot condemn 
them have to deter them from living as they list. 
Upon the whole, the old way of guarding against im- 
morality and licentiousness amongst Christians will, 
we apprehend, be found the most consistent and effica- 
cious. And he that has tried the old way and the new, 
will doubtless say as was said of old, "No man also 
having drunk old wine, straightway desireth new : for 
he saith the old is better." And, indeed, every at- 
tempt to guard the New Testament, or the gospel, by 
extrinsic means, against an immoral or licentious tend- 
ency, bears too strong a resemblance to the policy of 
a certain preacher in Norway or Lapland, who told his 
hearers that "hell was a place of infinite and incessant 
cold." When asked by an acquaintance from the South 
of Europe why he perverted the Scriptures, he replied, 
"if he told his hearers in that cold climate that hell 
was a place of excessive heat, he verily thought they 
would take no pains to avoid going there." 

But as to the licentious tendency this doctrine we 
inculcate is supposed to have upon the non-professing 
or unbelieving world, it appears rather imaginary than 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 133 

real. It must, however, in the first instance be ascer- 
tained whether the Gentiles, not professing Christian- 
ity, were ever supposed or addressed by the Apostle 
sent to the Gentiles, as being under the law of Moses. 
We have under the second head of our discourse par- 
ticularly demonstrated that the Gentiles were never 
under the law, either before or after their conversion. 
To what has been said on this subject we would add 
a sentence or two. It was prophesied of the Gentiles 
that they should be without law till Christ came. Isa. 
xlii. 4, "And the isles shall wait for his law." The 
chief glory which exalted the Jews above the Gentiles, 
which the Jews boasted of to the Gentiles, was that 
to them "pertained the adoption, the covenants, and 
the giving of the law." They exclusively claimed the 
law as their own. And why will not we let them have 
it, seeing Horn whose law the Gentiles waited for is 
come, and has given us a more glorious law. What- 
ever was excellent in their law our Legislator has re- 
promulgated. But shall we say that we are under the 
law as a rule of our Christian life, because some of 
its sublimest moral and religious precepts have been 
re-promulgated by Him who would not suffer one tittle 
of it to pass till he fulfilled it? As well might we af- 
firm that the British law which governed these States, 
when colonies, is the rule of our political life, because 
some of the most excellent laws of that code have been 
re-enacted by our legislators. Paul, the Apostle to the 
Gentiles, plainly acknowledged in his addresses to 
them, that they were without law, aliens from the 
commonwealth of Israel having no hope, &c. And 
of them he said that "when the Gentiles, who have not 
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, 
these having not the law, are a law unto themselves." 
But, in so saying, does he or do we excuse their sins 
or lead them to suppose that they are thereby less ob- 



134 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

noxious to the wrath to come ? By no means. For we 
testify that even natural conscience accuses them of 
sin or wrong in their thoughts, words and actions ac- 
cording to its knowledge. And consequently "as many 
as have sinned without law, shall also perish without 
law." In so testifying, do we cherish a licentious 
spirit? By no means. For there stand a thousand 
monuments in this present world, independent of Jew- 
ish law, on which are inscribed these words, "For the 
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 
godliness and unrighteousness of men.'' But one thing 
demands our observation, that the Apostle sent by 
Heaven to preach to the Gentiles, in accusing them of 
sins of the deepest dye, and of the most malignant 
nature, dishonorable to God and destructive to them- 
selves, never accuses them of any sin which the light 
of nature itself would not point out, or natural con- 
science testify to be wrong. Hence it is that in the 
long black catalogue of sins preferred against the 
Gentiles, is never to be found the crime of Sabbath-- 
breaking, or transgressing any of the peculiarities of 
Judaism. And now what is the difference between an 
ancient Greek and a modern American or European 
who disbelieves the gospel? Under what law is the 
latter, under which the former was not? Was the 
former a sinner and chargeable in the sight of God, 
as well as the latter? Yes. Would not natural con- 
science according to its means of knowing right and 
wrong, or the work of the law written in the heart, 
condemn the unbelieving Romans as well as the un- 
believing Americans? Most assuredly. And what 
is the difference? Not that the latter is under any law 
that the former was not under, but the means of dis- 
cerning right and wrong in the latter are far superior 
to the former, and consequently their overthrow or 
ruin will be more severe. In point of law or obligation 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 135 

there is no difference between the unbelieving Ameri- 
can and the rudest barbarian; though the former is 
polished with science, morals, &c, like the ancient 
Greeks and Romans, and the latter remains an unculti- 
vated savage. They will be judged and condemned 
by the same law which condemned the Roman who 
died 1900 years ago. And the condemnation of the 
latter shall be more tolerable than the former, not by 
a milder law, but because his knowledge of right and 
wrong was much inferior to the former; and having 
heard the gospel of salvation and disbelieved it, he 
adds to his natural corruption and accumulated guilt 
the sin of making God a liar, and preferring darkness 
to light, because he believed not the testimony of God. 
This is the sole difference in respect of condemnation 
between the Indian and the most accomplished citizen. 
From these few remarks it will appear, we trust, obvi- 
ous to every person who has an ear to distinguish truth 
from falsehood, that there is no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus — that they are under no law 
that can condemn them — that he who was made under 
the law is become the end of the law for righteousness 
to them — that being dead to sin, they should live no 
longer therein — that there is no necessity, but a glaring 
impropriety in teaching the law as a rule of life to 
Christians — that all arguments in favor of it are 
founded on human opinion and a mistaken view of 
the tendency of the gospel and Christian dispensation 
— that all objections against the doctrine we have 
stated as licentious in its tendency are totally ground- 
less. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation 
teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in 
this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, the 
glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour 
Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us that he might 



136 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
peculiar people, zealous of good ivorks" 

3d. In the third place, we conclude from the above 
premises, that there is no necessity for preaching the 
law in order to prepare men for receiving the gos- 
pel. 

This conclusion perfectly corresponds with the com- 
mission given by our Lord to the Apostles, and with 
their practice under that commission. "Go," saith he, 
"into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every 
creature." "Teach the disciples to observe all things 
whatsoever I command you." Thus they were author- 
ized to preach the gospel, not the law, to every crea- 
ture. Thus they were constituted ministers of the New 
Testament, not of the Old. Now the sacred history, 
called the Acts of the Apostles, affords us the most 
satisfactory information on the method the Apostles 
preached under this commission ; which, with the epis- 
tolary part of the New Testament, affords us the only 
successful, warrantable, and acceptable method of 
preaching and teaching. In the Acts of the Apostles, 
we see the Apostles and first preachers paid the most 
scrupulous regard to the instructions they received 
from the great Prophet. They go forth into all nations 
proclaiming the gospel to every creature; but not one 
word of law-preaching in the whole of it. We have 
the substance of eight or ten sermons delivered by 
Paul and Peter to Jews and Gentiles, in the Acts of 
Apostles, and not one precedent of preaching the law 
to prepare their hearers, whether Jews or Gentiles, for 
the reception of the gospel. 

This conclusion corresponds, in the next place, with 
the nature of the kingdom of heaven or Christian 
church, and with the means by which it is to be built 
and preserved in the world. The Christian dispensa- 
tion is called "the ministration of the Spirit," and ac- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 137 

cordingly everything in the salvation of the church is 
accomplished by the immediate energy of the Spirit. 
Jesus Christ taught his disciples that the testimony 
concerning himself was that only which the Spirit 
would use in converting such of the human family as 
should be saved. He was not to speak of himself, but 
what he knew of Christ. Now he was to convince the 
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; not 
by applying the law of Moses, but the facts concerning 
Christ to the consciences of the people. The spirit ac- 
companying the words which the Apostles preached, 
would convince the world of sin; not by the ten 
precepts, but because they believed not on him — of 
righteousness, because he went to the Father — and of 
judgment, because the prince of this world was judged 
by him. So that Christ and not law was the Alpha 
and Omega of their sermons; and this the Spirit 
made effectual to the salvation of thousands. Three 
thousand were convinced of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment, in this precise way of hearing of Christ, 
on the day of Pentecost ; and we read of many after- 
wards. Indeed, we repeat it again, in the whole 
history of primitive preaching, we have not one ex- 
ample of preaching the law as preparatory to the 
preaching or reception of the gospel. 

This conclusion corresponds, in the third place, 
with the fitness of things.* That man must be con- 



*Indeed we have yet to learn what advantage can accrue from 
preaching the so called "moral law," to prepare sinners for the 
gospel. In the nature and fitness of things it cannot prepare or 
dispose the mind to a belief of the gospel. The Apostles teach us 
that "the law worketh wrath.'' This is inevitably its effect on 
every mind which does not believe the gospel. It irritates and ex- 
cites the natural enmity of the mind against God. A clear exhibi- 
tion of the divine character in the law, apart from the gospel, 
tends more to alienate than to reconcile the mind to God. When 



138 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

vinced of sin by some means, prior to a welcome re- 
ception of saving truth, is generally acknowledged. 
Now, as the gospel dispensation is the most perfect 
revelation of salvation, it must be supposed that it 
possesses the best means of accomplishing everything 
connected with the salvation of its subjects. It must, 
of course, possess the best means of convincing of sin. 



a preacher of the law has labored to show his hearers the im- 
maculate holiness, the inflexible justice, the inviolate truth and 
consuming jealousy of Jehovah, manifested in the fiery law, sup- 
posing the gospel kept out of view, he has rather incapacitated and 
disqualified their minds from crediting the gospel or testimony of 
the condescension, love, mercy and grace of the Eternal Father to 
mankind. How opposite is the divine wisdom to the wisdom of 
many modern scribes and teachers of the law ! They preach first 
the law to natural fallen man. then the gospel. But He who seeth 
not as man seeth, preached first the gospel to fallen man, and 
afterwards added the law, because of transgressions, till the seed 
should come. Eternal life was promised through the seed, and the 
law added till the seed come. 

Nothing can be more inconsistent than the conduct of the law 
preachers. When they have echoed the thunders of Mount Sinai 
in the ears of their hearers almost to drive them to despair, and to 
produce what they call "legal repentance," then they begin to pull 
down the work of their hands by demonstrating the inefficacy, 
unprofitableness and danger of legal repentance. Might they not 
as well at once imitate the Apostles and primitive preachers — 
preach the gospel, which, when received, produces repentance not 
to be repented of? Might they not preach Christ crucified, in 
whom is manifested the wrath and judgment of God against sin; 
and his condescending love, mercy and grace to the sinner ? Might 
they not, knowing the terror of the Lord, persuade men by the 
persuasives of the doctrine of reconcilation ; rather than to in- 
crease their enmity, awaken their suspicions and work wrath in 
their minds, by an unlawful use of the law? But in order to 
this, their minds must be revolutionized; they must take up a 
cross which they at present refuse; and what is difficult indeed, 
they must unlearn what they have themselves taught others. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 139 

This truth, however, does not depend on mere suppo- 
sition. The fact that the Holy Spirit makes an exclu- 
sive use of it in convincing of sin, is a striking demon- 
stration of its superior excellence for that purpose. 
But independent of these considerations, it must be 
confessed that the gospel or testimony concerning 
Christ affords the fullest proof of divine justice and 
indignation against sin — it presents the clearest view 
of the demerit of sin, and of all divine perfections ter- 
rible to sinners — it exhibits the most alarming picture 
of human guilt and wretchedness that ever was given, 
and on these accounts is of all means the most suitable 
to convince of sin. It was already observed that the 
eternal Father condemned sin in the person of his Son, 
more fully than it ever was, or could be condemned in 
any other way. Suppose, for illustration, a king put 
to death his only son, in the most painful and ignomin- 
ious way, for a crime against the government : would 
not this fact be the best means of convincing his sub- 
jects of the evil of crime, and of the king's detestation 
of it? Would not this fact be better than a thousand 
lectures upon the excellency of the law and the sanc- 
tions of it? But every similitude of this kind falls in- 
finitely short of affording a resemblance of the eternal 
Father not sparing his Sole Delight when sin was but 
imputed to him. Having seen that this conclusion cor- 
responds with the commission given by the Redeemer 
to his Apostles — with their practice under that com- 
mission — with the nature of his kingdom, and with 
the fitness of things, one would suppose that no ob- 
jection could be preferred against it. But what doc- 
trine of divine truth is it, against which objections, 
numerous indeed, and strongly urged, and by men who 
profess to be zealous for the truth, have not been 
made? Is it the doctrine of sovereign, free, and 
abundant grace? No. Is it the doctrine of the natu- 



140 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ral sinfulness and corruption of all men? No, no. 
Against these, many objections, yea, very many, are 
urged. We must not suppose, then, that this doctrine 
we now maintain shall be free from objections. We 
shall, then, attend to some of those objections which 
have been made, or which we anticipate may be made 
against this conclusion. 

It may, perhaps, be objected that there are some ex- 
pressions in the apostolic epistles which imply that the 
law was necessary to convince of sin, as pre-requisite 
to a welcome reception of the gospel; such as "by 
the law is the knowledge of sin'' — "for without the law 
sin was dead." There is no authority from the orig- 
inal for varying the supplements in these two clauses. 
If it corresponds with the context or with the analogy 
of faith, to supply was in the last clause, it doubtless 
corresponds as well in the first clause. But we lay no 
stress on the one or the other; for before Christ came 
all knowledge of sin was by the law; and "the law 
entered that the offense might abound." For the law 
was added to the promise of life, because of transgres- 
sion, till the seed should come to whom the promise 
was made. Now we would suppose that when the 
seed is come, and the time expired for which the law 
was added, it is superfluous to annex it to the gospel, 
for the same reason it was annexed to the promise 
made to Abraham. And although it should be allowed 
that Christians derive knowledge of sin from the law, 
it does not follow that it is the best means of com- 
municating this knowledge — that Christians are depen- 
dent on it for this purpose — nor that it should be 
preached to unbelievers to prepare them for receiving 
the gospel. 

The seventh chapter to the Romans contains the 
fullest illustration of the once excellence and utility of 
the law that is to be found in all the New Testament; 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 141 

and as this chapter will doubtless be the stronghold of 
our opponents, we shall make a remark or two on the 
contents of it. 

In the first place, then, let it be remembered that in 
the fourteenth verse of the preceding chapter, the 
Apostle boldly affirms that Christians are not under the 
law. To the conclusion of the sixth chapter he refutes 
an objection made to his assertion in the fourteenth 
verse. In the first six verses of the seventh chapter 
he repeats his assertion, and uses an apt similitude to 
illustrate it. Having, then, demonstrated that Chris- 
tians are not under the law, in the seventh verse of the 
the seventh chapter he states an objection which had 
been made, or he anticipated would be made, against 
his doctrine — "If Christians are not under the law, if 
they are dead to it, if they are delivered from it, is it 
not a sinful thing?" "Is the law sin, then?" This 
objection against the nature of the law, the Apostle 
removes in the next six verses by showing the utility 
of the law in himself as a Jew under that law ; and 
concludes that the law is holy, just and good. To the 
end of the chapter the Apostle gives an account of his 
experience as a Christian freed from the law, and thus 
manifests the excellency of his new mind or nature by 
its correspondence to the holiness of the law ; so that 
he most effectually removes the objection made against 
the law as being sin, and at the same time establishes 
the fact that Christians are delivered from it. Such 
evidently is the scope of the latter part of the sixth 
and all of the seventh chapter. We cannot dismiss this 
chapter without observing, first, that the law or that 
part of the law which the Apostle here speaks of, is 
what modern teachers call "the moral law." If so, 
then Christians are not under it ; for the law which the 
Apostle affirms Christians are delivered from in the 
sixth verse, in the seventh verse he shows is not sin ; 



142 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

and the law which he shows is not sin, he demonstrates 
to be holy, just and good. So that here, as well as in 
the third chapter of his second Epistle to the Corinth- 
ians, Christians are expressly said to be delivered from 
the so-called moral law; and that it is abolished or 
done away in respect of them. We must remark again 
that before any thing said in this chapter respecting 
the utility or excellence of the law can be urged as a 
precedent for what we condemn — namely, preaching 
the law as preparatory to the gospel, or a law work as 
preparatory to genuine conversion, it must be shown 
that the Apostle gave this account of his experi- 
ence under the law as preparatory to his con- 
version. Otherwise no objection can be made from 
anything in this chapter to the conclusion before 
stated. But this cannot be; for the account we have 
of his conversion flatly contradicts such a supposition. 
Previous to his conversion he was a very devout man 
in his own way — "touching the righteousness which 
was in the law he was blameless." See the account 
he gives of himself, Phil, iii, 4, 5, compared with Rom. 
vii, 7-12; Acts xxii, 1 ; xxiii, 1 ; from which we learn 
that he was taught according to the most perfect man- 
ner of the law, and was a Pharisee of the strictest 
kind : had clear ideas of sin and righteousness ; and, 
externally considered, was blameless and lived in all 
good conscience until the day of his conversion. But 
it was not the law, it was not a new discovery of its 
spirituality, but a discovery of Christ exalted, that con- 
vinced him of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; 
and instantaneously converted him. So that nothing 
in his previous life or attainments, nothing of his ex- 
perience as a Jew, nothing of his knowledge of sin or 
of righteousness by the law previous to his conversion, 
can be urged in support of preaching the law or a law 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 143 

work to unbelievers, to prepare their mind for a wel- 
come reception of the truth. 

When we shall have mentioned a favorite text of 
the law preachers, and considered it, we shall have 
done with objections of this sort. It is Galatians iii, 
24. We shall cite from the 23d verse: "Before 
faith [Christ] came we were kept under the law, shut 
up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us 
to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But 
after that faith [Christ] is come, we are no longer 
under a schoolmaster." Methinks it looks rather like 
an insult to the understanding of any person skilled in 
the use of words, to offer a refutation of the use that 
is frequently made of the 24th verse. But let the 
censure rest upon them who render it needful. Every 
smatterer in Greek knows that the 24th verse might 
read thus : "The law was our schoolmaster until 
Christ" came; and this reading unquestionably corre- 
sponds with the context. Now is it not most obvious 
that instead of countenancing law-preaching, this text 
and context condemn it? The scope of it is to show 
that whatever use the law served as a schoolmaster 
previous to Christ, it no longer serves that use. And 
now that Christ is come we are no longer under it. We 
see, then, that this conclusion not only corresponds 
with the commission to the Apostles, with the nature 
of Christ's Kingdom, with the apostolic preaching, 
and with the fitness of things : but that no valid objec- 
tion can be presented against it, from anything in the 
apostolic epistles. 

Some, notwithstanding the Scriptural plainness of 
this doctrine, may urge their own experience as con- 
trary to it. It would, however, be as safe for Chris- 
tians to make divine truth a test of their experience, 
and not their experience a test of divine truth. Some 



144 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

individuals have been awakened by the appearance of 
the aurora borealis, by an earthquake, by a thunder- 
storm, by a dream, by sickness, etc. How inconsistent 
for one of these to affirm from his own experience, that 
others must be awakened in the same way ! How in- 
compatible with truth for others to preach such occur- 
rences as preliminary to saving conversion! 

But the difference between ancient and modern con- 
versions is so striking as to merit an observation or 
two. Now that the law is commonly preached to pre- 
pare men for Christ, it must be expected that modern 
conversions will be very systematic, and lingering in 
all. While preachers will not condescend to proclaim 
the glad tidings until they have driven their hearers al- 
most to despair by the thunders of Mt. Sinai — while 
they keep them in anxious suspense for a time, whether 
the wounds of conviction are deep enough; whether 
their sense of guilt is sufficiently acute; whether their 
desires are sufficiently keen; whether their fears are 
sufficiently strong; in short, whether the law has had 
its full effect upon them: I say, when this is the case, 
conversion work must go on slow ; and so it is not rare 
to find some in a way of being converted for years; 
and, indeed, it is generally a work of many months. 
It would be well, however, if, after all, it were com- 
monly genuine. Compare these conversions with those 
of which we read in the Acts of the Apostles, and 
what a contrast! There we read of many converted 
in a day, who yesterday were as ignorant of law and 
gospel as the modern Hindoos or Burmans. To account 
for this we have only to consider and compare the dif- 
ferent sorts of preaching and means by which those 
were and these are effected. 

But some may yet inquire, Are unbelievers under no 
law or obligation by which conviction may be commu- 
nicated to their minds? Or they may ask in other 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 145 

words, How does the testimony of Christ take hold of 
them? And why do they welcome the gospel? We 
have already shown that there is a law written on 
every human heart, which is the foundation of both 
law and prophets, under which both angels and men 
exist, whose obligation is universal and eternal. It is 
inscribed more or less distinctly on every heathen's 
heart. It is sometimes called the law of nature, but 
more correctly called by the Apostle, conscience. This 
natural conscience, or sense of right and wrong, which 
all men possess in different degrees, according to a 
variety of circumstances, but all in some degree, is 
that in them which God addresses. This natural con- 
science is fitted to hear the voice of God, as exactly 
as the ear is fitted to hear sounds. This renders 
the savage inexcusable. For the invisible things of 
God, even his eternal power and godhead, are man- 
ifested to his conscience in the natural world. Now 
God addresses conscience in those whom he brings to 
himself in a variety of ways. Sometimes even where 
his word is come, he speaks by awful events to the 
consciences of men. In this way he awakens inquiries 
that lead to the saving truth. Witness the jailor and 
his house, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apos- 
tles. God spake to his conscience by an earthquake, 
and put an inquiry in his mouth that was answered 
to his salvation and that of his house. That which 
fits the savage to hear God's voice in the natural 
world, fits him or the man of civilization to hear his 
voice in the gospel, when it is sent to them in power. 

Are we to preach this law of nature, then, some will 
inquire, or are we to show men that they possess this 
natural conscience, previous to a proclamation of the 
glad tidings ? I would answer this question by propos- 
ing another. Am I to tell a man he has an ear, and 
explain to him the use of it, before I condescend to 



146 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

speak to him? One answer suits both inquiries. We 
should consider the circumstances of any people before 
we address them. Do we address Jews? Let us ad- 
dress them as the Apostles did. Persuade them out of 
their own law that Jesus is the Messiah. Do we ad- 
dress professed Christians? Let us imitate the apos- 
tolic addresses in the epistles. Do we preach to bar- 
barians? Let us address them as Paul preached to 
the Lycaonians — speak to their consciences. Do we 
preach to polished infidels or idolaters? Let us speak 
to them as Paul spake to the Athenians — speak to 
their consciences. 

4th. A fourth conclusion which is deducible from 
the above premises, is that all arguments and motives, 
drawn from the law or Old Testament, to urge the 
disciples of Christ to baptize their infants; to pay 
tithes to their teachers ; to observe holy days or relig- 
ious fasts, as preparatory to the observance of the 
Lord's supper ; to sanctify the seventh day ; to enter 
into national covenants; to establish any form of 
religion by civil law; — and all reasons and motives 
borrowed from the Jewish law to excite the disciples 
of Christ to a compliance with or an initiation of Jew- 
ish customs, are inconclusive, repugnant to Christian- 
ity, and fall ineffectual to the ground; not being en- 
joined or countenanced by the authority of Jesus 
Christ. 

5th. In the last place we are taught from all that 
has been said to venerate in the highest degree the 
Lord Jesus Christ ; to receive Him as the Great Proph- 
et, of whom Moses in the law, and all the prophets did 
write. To receive him as the Lord our righteousness, 
and to pay the most punctilious regard to all his pre- 
cepts and ordinances. "If we continue in his word, 
then are we his disciples indeed, and we shall know the 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 147 

truth and the truth shall make us free — if the Son 
shall make us free, we shall be free indeed." 

It is remarkable how strong our attachments are to 
Moses as a teacher: though Moses taught us to look 
for a greater prophet than he, and to hearken to him! 
It is strange that three surprising incidents in the his- 
tory of Moses would not arrest our attention and direct 
us to Christ. With all his moral excellence, unfeigned 
piety and legislative dignity, he fell short of Canaan. 
So all who cleave to him will come short of the heav- 
enly rest! His mortal remains, and his only, the Al- 
mighty buried in secret ; and yet we will not suffer his 
ashes to rest in peace ! He came down from heaven to 
give place to the Messiah, to lay down his commission 
at his feet ; and we will not accept it ! Strange infat- 
uation ! 

If Moses was faithful in Christ's house as a servant, 
shall not Christ be faithful as a son over his own 
house? Let us as his disciples believe all he teaches, 
and practice all he enjoins in religion and morality; 
let us walk in all his commandments and ordinances; 
and inquire individually, What lack I yet? If we are 
then deficient, let us say with the Jews who disowned 
him, "We are Moses' disciples, but as for this fellow, 
we know not whence he is." But let all remember 
that if he that despises Moses' law died without mercy, 
of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he 
be thought worthy, who despised Christ as a teacher! 
His commandments are not grievous to his disciples 
— his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. 

Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart 
from all iniquity. Let us walk worthy of Him. Let 
us take heed lest by our conduct we should represent 
Christ as the minister of sin. Let us not walk after 
the flesh but the Spirit; and then we shall show that 
the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. Then 



148 PIONEER SERMOXS AXD ADDRESSES. 

shall no occasion be given to the adversary to speak 
reproachfully. And if any should still urge the stale 
charge of Antinomianism, or affirm that we live in sin 
that grace might abound, did evil that good might 
come, or made void the law through faith, let us put 
to silence the ignorance of foolish men, by adorning 
the doctrine we profess with a blameless conduct. Let 
us not merely rebut such insinuations with a "God for- 
bid!" but evince, how shall we that are dead to sin, 
live any longer therein. 

May he that hath the key of David, who openeth 
and no man shutteth, and shutteth and none can 
open, open your hearts to receive the truth in the love 
of it, and incline you to walk in the light of it, and 
then ye shall know that the ways thereof are pleasant- 
ness, and all the paths thereof are peace ! Amen. 



TO THE CHURCH SCATTERED 
THROUGHOUT AMERICA. 

BY BARTON W. STONE. 

Barton W. Stone was born near Port Tobacco, Md., December 
24, 1772. Died at Hannibal, Mo., November 9, 1844. 

My dear Brethren: 

Your edification in Christ Jesus, your fellowship in 
the Spirit, your union with all saints, and your pros- 
perity in the Lord, have long been the wish and prayer 
of my heart, and labor of my life. In the prosecution 
of these Divine objects, I see, on a retrospect, my many 
imperfections; I blush at the remembrance, and pray 
my Lord, and beseech my brethren to forgive. Know- 
ing that the time of my departure is near, I wish to 
write a few things to you, which may be profitable after 
my decease, and which may speak when I am dead. 

About the beginning of this century my mind was 
uncommonly exercised on the subject of religion. I 
then evidently saw what I yet see, that the sects in 
which the religious community was divided, were 
antiscriptural, and insuperable mountains in the way 
of the progress of truth. With others in the same 
spirit, I set myself against this evil, and determined 
before God to exert my feeble powers to remove it 
from the religion of heaven, and promote Christian 
union, both by my example and by my endeavors in 
the cause of truth. The odds were fearful, a handful 

149 



150 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

against the formidable array of long-established 
parties. In Israel's God we trusted, and "forward" 
was our motto. Beyond our most sanguine anticipa- 
tions the cause of union prospered. One thing as- 
tounded us ; the clergy of all the sects, who should be 
foremost in every good work, were our bitterest op- 
posers. We had to combat for every inch of ground 
we possessed, and for every fortress we gained. 

In this mind Have I continued to this day; and yet 
feel the same spirit to labor in the good cause, but 
the flesh is too weak to sustain the burden, after a 
warfare of nearly half a century. 

My dear brethren, we have advanced and become a 
great people. Now is the time of danger, now there 
is need of humility, watchfulness and prayer. We 
begin to be respected as a people, and begin already to 
vie with others in numbers. A Joab is sent by the 
higher powers through the length and breadth of the 
land to number Israel. O that the fate of Israel of old 
may not be ours! If it proceeds from pride, and if 
God has regard for us, we may expect a diminution 
in our ranks. Instead of thanksgiving and praise to 
God, because he has so wonderfully prospered our 
labors in uniting so many thousands, it is to be feared 
that pride may yet succeed, and spoil all our works. 
Israel were often seduced from the true worship of 
God to the idolatry and communion of the nations 
among which they dwelt, and this always took place 
in the days of their prosperity. So we may be so 
captivated by the doctrines, forms, popularity and re- 
spectability of the sects around us that we may try to 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 151 

accommodate the truth of God to their prejudices, in 
order to gain their favor, and eventually to enlist them 
on our side, and join in our mighty union. Such union 
is no better, if as good, as that of the Romanists, who 
are exceedingly zealous for union. A union of ten 
pious, uncompromising persons in the truth, is better 
than ten thousand of the contrary character. Truth 
must never be sacrificed for the union of numbers. 
Truth preached and lived in the spirit will cut its way 
through all opposition. 

But what is truth ? The Bible, and the Bible alone — 
not opinions which men have formed of the Bible, 
whether comprised in a confession of faith, or in a 
Christian system, or in thirty-nine articles, or in a 
discipline. Our union first commenced on this ground, 
and sectarianism first received its deadly wound from 
this weapon, and by no other will it die the death, if 
its death is to be effected by moral means. If we begin 
to magnify our opinions, and make them tests of fel- 
lowship, we depart from the foundation laid in Zion, 
and shall be under the necessity of becoming a sect by 
forming a book of opinions as our creed, and demand- 
ing a subscription to it as the basis of union. This 
must be a progressive work; it can not be effected at 
once. There is too much light in the world at present 
for its growth. "Here a little and there a little," must 
precede its introduction. My dear brethren, watch and 
pray, lest you fall into temptation and mar the work 
of God. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ 
has made you free, and be not entangled again with 
the yoke of bondage. 



152 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

On this foundation I have been immovably fixed for 
many years, and shall remain for the few days I may 
live. Some of my own brethren may think I do not 
advocate Christianity. It may be so; for I confess 
myself a fallible creature, and therefore I warn my 
brethren not to receive anything I have said or written 
as truth, unless sustained by the infallible Word. They 
who think I am not advocating Christianity may be 
wrong, for they also are fallible, and must not be 
trusted without careful examination by the Word. 

I well remember that when my mind was opened at 
first to see the truth as stated above, I said that if all 
the world should depart from it, I never would. When 
all my fellow-laborers had departed from it, and left 
me alone, I still felt and repeated the same words, and 
still repeat them. 

A factionist I never can nor will be. Should I 
stand in the way of the present reformation in the 
opinion of any, it will not be long. Let them publicly 
withdraw from me their fellowship. To cast me out 
of the Church they can not, without they cast out all 
those who receive the Bible alone, and who are anti- 
sectarians. 

The sects have their churches, like the States of 
Greece, closely concatenated, though sometimes the 
chain is broken. Are we beginning to imitate them? 
Do we begin to yield the power and right of the 
churches to the clergy? It may be a harmless thing 
in the present generation; but posterity may writhe 
under the galling chain. What means so much written 
on organization? The first link is loose — unfastened 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 153 

— and that link is love. Without this the churches 
may be chained together by human device; but this 
is not the organization of the head of the Church. We 
may devise plans of organization, but they will all 
prove fallacious. Human bonds may bind human 
beings, who have not the spirit; but spiritual bonds can- 
not bind together such persons. 

The great secret of church government and organ- 
ization has been almost overlooked. It is the in- 
dwelling of the Holy Spirit in each believer and mem- 
ber of the Church. "The fruits of the Spirit are love, 
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meek- 
ness, fidelity, and temperance ; against such there is no 
law." No law of Heaven nor of earth will condemn 
them. "There is no condemnation to them that are in 
Christ, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
Spirit," the Spirit which dwells in them. Such a 
church as is composed of such members, is easily gov- 
erned by the law of Christ, and they need no other. 
But those of the opposite character, who have not the 
Spirit, and who walk after the flesh, are not subject 
to this law, nor indeed can be. "The works of the 
flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lascivious- 
ness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, 
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, 
drunkenness revilings, and such like" — such shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God. We greatly lack the 
Spirit ; where that abides there is order and good gov- 
ernment. Where that is not, there is confusion, and 
every evil work; there is theory for better organiza- 
tion — for a more perfect system of church govern- 



154 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ment. The simple rules given by Christ will not 
answer the purpose to govern the carnal and worldly 
professors of religion. Let us be filled with the Spirit 
and walk in the Spirit, and the simple government 
of Christ will be all sufficient. 

Should it be inquired, what is that government for 
the church, ordained by Jesus Christ? that shall be 
the subject of some future number. 

THE CHURCH. 

The first Church of Christ established on earth after 
his resurrection is found in the first chapter of the 
Acts of the Apostles, which church was composed of 
one hundred and twenty members only. "The num- 
ber of the names together were about a hundred and 
twenty." These names were those of the eleven 
apostles. "These all continued with one accord in 
prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary 
the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." Among 
them were Barsabas, or Barnabas, and Matthias, who 
was afterward chosen an apostle to fill the place of 
Judas Iscariot. Of all this number we find not one 
infant, and what is said of this church excludes the 
idea of an infant being a member of it. For it is said, 
"These all continued with one accord, in prayer and 
supplication." Infants can not feel that accord, nor 
engage in prayer and supplication, all acknowledge. 
Besides, this church of one hundred and twenty chose 
an apostle by casting lots or votes. This could not be 
the work of infants. 

Again, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 155 

and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit 
gave them utterance." It may be said, that those rilled 
with the Holy Ghost were the apostles alone. But the 
Scripture says, "they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost ;" and this was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, 
"Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and 
your young men shall see visions, and your old men 
shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my 
handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my 
Spirit; and they shall prophesy." If infants had been 
of this number, and prophesied with the men and 
women, the miracle would have been more extraordi- 
nary and convincing than that which appeared among 
the adults. But no mention is made of it, and no one 
contends or believes that it was a fact. 

The result of Peter's preaching on that occasion was 
glorious. "Many were pierced to the heart, and cried 
out, what shall we do?" Infants did not thus act. 
"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized 
(no infants yet), and the same day there were added 
unto them about three thousand souls; and they con- 
tinued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellow- 
ship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." 

We see no place for infants yet, for such worship 
can not be performed by them. Could it be proved 
that infants were in this church, it would afford an ir- 
refragible argument that they should eat the Lord's 
Supper, and thus would be settled the doubt of pedo- 
baptists. All that follows in Acts 2:42 to the end 
equally excludes the idea that infants were members of 
this church. The last sentence is incontrovertible. 



156 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

"And the Lord added to the church daily the saved." 
Acts 5 : 14, "And believers were the more added to the 
Lord, multitudes both of men and women." 

In favor of infant church membership, it is argued, 
by Divine appointment they were members of the old 
church, by what authority are they excluded from that 
in the New Institution? 

Answer: Suppose under the old constitution of 
Kentucky females were admitted to the same privileges 
in government as the men — they had equal right to 
vote at the polls, and to hold and exercise all the offices 
of the government as the males. In process of years 
the constitution was altered, and these rights were 
indirectly taken from the females. The qualifications 
of voters to fill the offices in government were, that 
every male of twenty-one years and over had a right 
to vote for officers in government ; and that every male 
over twenty-five years old had a right to fill offices by 
the election of his compatriots. The women might 
argue, we once had the right to choose representatives 
in the government, and to be chosen as such. By 
what authority are we excluded from these privileges 
under the new constitution? It nowhere says that 
females shall no longer enjoy these privileges. 

I grant, the constitution nowhere says in direct 
terms that women are excluded from the privileges; 
but indirectly it does exclude them — for the qualifica- 
tions for these privileges as stated in the constitution, 
are inapplicable to females. We may say that infants 
were allowed the privileges of church-membership un- 
der the old institution; but in the new, they are in- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 157 

directly excluded, not possessing the qualifications re- 
quired to be in those who are admitted to be members 
of the church. 

The Whole Jewish nation were members of the old 
church, and pleaded before John the baptizer their 
right to all church privileges. John did not admit their 
plea to be valid. If the old and new churches are the 
same, how could the three thousand believing Jews be 
added to the church? Could they be added to that 
of which they had always been members? We think 
not. 

A part of the inhabitants of Kentucky might still 
adhere to the old constitution, which admitted females 
to an equal share in government with the males; but 
they are evidently not recognized as citizens of the 
commonwealth, but as traitors in opposition to it. So 
the Jews, a part of the world, still adhere to their old 
constitution, which admits of infant church-member- 
ship. But they are not acknowledged citizens of 
Christ's Church, but aliens and traitors in opposition 
to it. So in part are to be viewed all those who adopt 
the old constitution of the Jews, or blend it with the 
new, without Divine authority. This is a subject of 
importance, and should be calmly considered, and not 
hastily passed over through prejudice or prepossession. 

UNITY. 

During the days of the apostles, the Christians 
lived in union and harmony among themselves; not 
altogether in a union of opinion, for this is unattain- 
able, if desirable in the present imperfect state of man ; 



158 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

but they lived in a union of spirit. They were of one 
heart and of one soul. 

This union is portrayed by the pen of an inspired 
apostle, in Eph. 4:5, 6. 1st. He says there is one 
body under the direction of one head, one law-giver. 
They are one with the Father and the Son Jesus 
Christ. The present state of the church shows many 
bodies, many heads and many law-givers. Can they 
all be the Church of Christ? Impossible, if judged 
according to the Scriptures. 

2nd. "There is one Spirit." This Spirit dwells in 
the one body. "Ye are the temple of the Holy Spirit." 
This body is the habitation of God through the Spirit 
— the Spirit of God — the Spirit of Christ which 
dwelleth in them, the same Spirit by which God will 
quicken their mortal bodies, or raise them from the 
dead. Rom. 8. The fruits of the indwelling Spirit 
are love, joy, peace, etc. (Gal. 5.) Every member of 
the body possesses this Spirit and bears the same fruits. 

3d. "They are all called to one hope." This, the 
object of their hope, is set forth in the Gospel, as, 
glory, honor, immortality and eternal life, with all the 
blessings of Heaven, promised in the New Covenant. 

4th. "One Lord." Though there be lords many, 
with us there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
are all things, and we by him. He is Lord of all in 
heaven and in earth. To his orders and commands all 
Christians are obedient. To his government they all 
submit. 

5th. "One faith." Though there be faiths many, 
yet with us there is but one faith, the faith of Jesus 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 159 

Christ, the faith once delivered to the saints, the faith 
which the apostles preached, and to which they urged 
obedience for salvation. The New Testament is the 
one faith of Christians. 

6th. "One baptism." This is the baptism which 
the apostles were commissioned by the Saviour to ad- 
minister to all believers, and is one part of obedience 
to the one faith, through which salvation is promised. 

7th. "One God and Father of all." For though 
there be gods many, with us "Christians" there is but 
one God, the Father, of whom are all things, etc. 

Here is a confession of faith, one in which Christians 
were once united according to the will of God. Every 
article of it is essential to our salvation. On this must 
the church settle again, before she becomes united, 
and before the world can be saved. 

Can any Christians of any sect object to unite on 
this Divine confession of faith? Do not all acknowl- 
edge there is but one body, of which Christ is the 
head? Do not all acknowledge that the Spirit of the 
Son dwells in this one body, and that each member 
drinks into this one Spirit, and bears the fruits of the 
Spirit, — love, joy, peace, etc. ? Do not all Christians 
have the same hope set before them, — glory, honor, 
etc. ? Do they not all claim the same faith, the New 
Testament? True, they have and may have different 
opinions of many truths of this faith ; yet if with these 
opinions, they show that they are members of the one 
body, and have the one Spirit, and bear the fruits of 
the Spirit, that they are inspired with the hope of im- 
mortality to be holy as God is holy, who will reject 



160 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

them? Let them have their opinions, seeing they do 
not influence the heart to evil practices. "Him that 
is weak in the faith receive ye, without regard to 
diversity of opinions." To unite upon opinions is like 
building a house upon the sand — it will fall. 

Do not Christians own the one Lord Jesus Christ 
the Son of God, sent to be the Saviour of the world? 
Different opinions are formed and entertained with 
respect to his person; but do not all true Christians 
show their love to him by keeping his commands ? Do 
they not unreservedly trust in him, believing firmly 
that he is able to save them ? Speculation and contro- 
versy on this point have done incalculable mischief in 
the Christian world. 

Do not all profess the one God and Father of all? 
Surely there can be but one faith on this subject, how- 
ever jarring may be the speculations of men. 

Which of all these sects can say, we are in this 
union? I ask each, are you the body of Christ? Then 
you alone have the one Spirit. All the other bodies 
of the sects are not the body of Christ, and have not 
his Spirit dwelling in them, and therefore are none of 
his. If any one sect claims to be the body of Christ, 
then unchristianize all the other sects. Can all the 
sects collectively make the one body? Then all the 
sects have the one Spirit dwelling in them, and conse- 
quently have the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, 
etc. Can it be possible then that they are all one, and 
yet divided into contending factions? Can they all 
have the one Spirit and bear the fruits of it, and yet 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 161 

instead of peace, love, etc., bear the fruits of hatred, 
discord and strife ? "Judaeas appella credat, non ego." 

These human-constituted bodies must be dissolved 
before they become the one body of Christ, and drink 
into the one Spirit. They must cast away their various 
faiths, and receive the one faith of Christ. They must 
relinquish their vain philosophy respecting the Father 
and the Son, and learn the truth from the Great 
Teacher. 

My brethren of the various denominations, hear the 
exhortation of an old man, now past the age allotted 
to mortals, who must soon quit the busy scenes of this 
life. You all see and the pious of every name deplore 
the miserable state of Christianity as now presented to 
view. It is high time to awake out of sleep, and no 
longer indulge in dreams of better days, while we are 
inactive to hasten them on. You need not conviction 
of the vanity of expecting a union of the sects as such ; 
you must pronounce the idea chimerical and absurd. 
It must be effected on God's own plan, and it will be 
effected, or the prayer of Jesus remain unanswered. 
Some of you say it will be effected in the millennium. 
No, it must be effected before, that the world may be 
brought to believe and be saved. When Christ shall 
come the second time, it will be to judge, not to save 
the world. 

While Protestants are wrangling and dividing, it 
is food to the Papists, who eagerly watch and wish 
for our destruction. By our conduct we are healing 
the deadly wound of the beast, who is pouring, noiv 
pouring his vassals in thousands on our peaceful 



162 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

shores. They are decoying our citizens' children to 
their high schools and instilling into the tender minds 
their pernicious, anti-Christian doctrines. Many of 
the dignitaries of the established church of England 
are engaged to effect a union with the old mother. 
This is natural. Our divisions and strifes are fast 
paving the way for Papal despotism, for Papal rule, 
and for the Papal inquisition. Our divisions are driv- 
ing thousands to scepticism, and hardening the world 
of the ungodly to their utter gain. Our divisions are 
drinking up the spirits of the godly, destroying the 
influence of Christianity, and barring the way to 
heaven. 

This, my brethren, you will acknowledge; and yet, 
how — oh, how can you be inactive? How can you 
any longer labor to establish a party, and not summon 
all your powers to promote the union of Christians? 
''Self must be humbled, pride abased, else they destroy 
our souls." I fear that real Christians in every party 
are in the minority and the opposite character among 
them will, of course, oppose. But we must come out 
from among them, and be separate — leave all for the 
kingdom of heaven's sake. 

You know, my brethren, this event must take place 
sooner or later, and the sooner the better. But you 
ask, "what shall we do ? I daily pray for the union of 
Christians, and am waiting for God to effect it." Do 
you wait for God to work a miracle to convince you 
of a plain duty? Do you wait for him to force his 
people to do right? In vain you pray, in vain you 
wait, while you remain idle and inactive in the great 
work. 



MOSES AND CHRIST. . 
Redemption — a Type. 

BY WALTER SCOTT. 

Walter Scott was born October 31, 1796, in Moffat, Scotland. 
Came to America in 1818. Died at Mayslick, Ky., April 23, 
1861. 

"A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, from 
among your brethren, like unto me: to him shall you hearken; 
and it shall come to pass that the soul that will not hearken to 
the voice of that prophet shall be cut off from among the people." 
(Deut. 18.) 

These are the words of a great man, who, professing 
to speak by the Spirit of God, here offers himself as 
a type of the promised Messiah. 

It was not, then, to keep Israel in the vicinity of 

their own land — the promised land — that God placed 

them in Egypt, where they were enslaved, oppressed 

and corrupted in their state, morals and religion; 

neither was it merely to place them in their own land 

that he brought them out of Egypt. Both their descent 

into and their exodus out of that kingdom were typical, 

and had a higher significance. The exit of Israel was 

designed of God to shadow forth and throw into bolder 

relief the major fact or feature in the future Messianic 

order of things, namely, "Redemption." Their civil 

and religious deliverance from Pharaoh and idolatry, 

is therefore but a type on the lower level of thought, 

analogous in its general feature, however, to that re- 

163 



164 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

demption from death and sin by the Messiah which the 
Christian religion offers to our faith on the higher 
scale of spiritual perception. 

The following are the general lineaments of the il- 
lustrious type — the kingdom of ancient Israel, whose 
miraculous rescue forms one of the most renowned 
facts in the world's history, and makes the Jews by far 
the most famous and interesting nation of antiquity. 

THE TYPE. 

1. The Redeemer, Moses. 

2. The Redeemed, Israel unorganized. 

3. The Rescue, or Transition in the cloud and 

sea. 

4. Their Civil and Religious Organization. 

5. Their Wilderness state. 

6. Their hope of Canaan. 

The reader will perceive by these particulars that the 
Typical Redemption was first inorganic, then transi- 
tional, and finally organic. Israel was at last national- 
ized on a great charter of civil and religious rights and 
privileges; and, as an independent nation, gifted with 
laws and ordinances of their own. 

THE ANTITYPE. 

1. The Redeemer, Messiah. 

2. The Redeemed, Christians unorganized. 

3. Their Transition or rescue by water and 

Spirit. 

4. Their Civil and Religious Organization. 

5. Their state in the world. 

6. Their hope of Heaven. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 165 

Such are the salient points of similitude between the 
two systems — the typical and the anti-typical — the 
Mosaic and Messianic redemption, long after sung in 
heaven, to harps of gold, by holy martyrs, as the Song 
of Moses and the Lamb. 

"It was comparatively an easy thing," says one, "for 
the Jewish worshiper to understand how, from time to 
time, he stood related to a visible sanctuary and an 
earthly inheritance, or go through the process of an 
appointed purification by means of water and the blood 
of slain victims applied to the body — much more easy 
than for the Christian to apprehend his relation to a 
heavenly sanctuary, and realize the cleansing of the 
conscience from all guilt by the inward application of 
the sacrifice of Christ and the renewing of the Holy 
Spirit." 

It is much easier for us to verify in our meditations 
the temporal and visible redemption of ancient Israel 
from Pharaoh and false religion by Moses the man 
of God, than our own spiritual and invisible redemp- 
tion from sin and death by Jesus the Son of God. But 
should even the type fail to give to our cogitations on 
the eternal redemption that definiteness which was 
designed, one truth remains, viz : that as certainly as 
the rescue from Egypt, though difficult at first, was 
achieved at last, so certainly will our rescue from sin 
and death, though difficult at first, be achieved at last ; 
and the heavenly Canaan, despite our weakness, be 
given to the faithful of all ages and nations. 

From the fall of man, — from the day God adjudi- 
cated him to death, yet promised him a Deliverer, — 



166 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

every successive revelation made by him to man, was, 
we may safely aver, an advance from the lower toward 
the higher strata of thought touching the great Re- 
demption. Though at the deluge the population of the 
globe and the great globe itself perished; though the 
few souls who survived that catastrophe seemed, amid 
its horrors, doomed to inevitable destruction, and 
when rescued looked like the last remnant of a perish- 
ing humanity; though at that crisis all things seemed 
to be thrown back fifteen centuries into a state of less 
hopefulness than at the fall itself, yet they were not. 
Adam, for want of faith, had lost all; but at the era 
of the deluge Noah was found to be a righteous man, 
who, Abdiel-like — 

"Among the faithless faithful only he," "built 
an ark by faith to the saving of his house by which 
he condemned the world and became an heir of the 
righteousness which is by faith." (Heb. xi.) Thus 
the race of man commenced its second career in the 
world under the hopeful auspices of a man of faith. 
And so from Adam to Noah was one important ad- 
vance toward the great Redemption. It was the 
elimination of faith, and its glorification among men 
as the great religious principle, without which it is 
impossible to please God. 

But again, when afterward God laid hold of the 
seed of Abraham to deliver them from the tyranny 
and Idolatry of Egypt, and organize them as a distinct 
nation, with a mild government, and manners and cus- 
toms of their own, he made another advance-step to- 
ward the Messianic order of things, and with sufficient 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 167 

clearness intimated by the typical kingdom the final 
organization of the men of faith. 

Having eliminated the great typical thought indi- 
cated by the rescue of Israel from Pharaoh, Idolatry 
and Egypt — namely, "Redemption" let us, current e 
calamo, trace the several features in the type by which 
it assimilated itself to the antitype and thereby pre- 
figured the kingdom of Christ. 

A certain personage, a Pantheist, rejected, in my 
presence, our religion, because it was, he said, founded 
on the pernicious doctrine of punishing the innocent 
for the guilty. 

It was answered that most people chose to view 
that matter in the light rather of a grand personage 
greatly and heroically offering himself in a desperate 
case in behalf of the unfortunate. The gentleman 
evidently viewed the death of the Messiah under the 
delusive idea that all good and great actions necessarily 
turn on the maxims of ordinary morality; but history 
proves that the great mutations and ameliorations in 
society have turned rather on the axis of an extraor- 
dinary heroism. In both religion and politics, science 
and the arts, this held good. Adam, Noah, and Moses, 
Nimrod, Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, were 
heroes; Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras 
were heroes; Newton, Bacon, Watt, Franklin, and 
Morse were all heroes — all self-sacrificing men. Mes- 
siah, then, was a hero — a hero from heaven, to achieve 
what none but a hero from heaven could achieve, name- 
ly, the emancipation from Satan, sin and death of the 
race of man. Would the honor and glory and fame 



168 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

of rescuing a world have been more worthily and more 
wisely awarded to the guilty than to the innocent ? The 
Scriptures are in excellent keeping with themselves. 
The race that was destroyed by a power ab extra, shall 
by an ab extra power be rescued. If hell ruined us, 
heaven has redeemed us. It would be as safe to except 
to the heroism of certain Greeks and Romans in the 
ancient world, or to David and Judas Machabeus, 
Wallace, Washington, Tell, Hampden, Henry or 
Kosciusko, as to that of the glorious Messiah, the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

The state of this world makes room for magnanim- 
ity to display itself. The redemption of the race was 
the grand occasion, and Christ, the Son of God, met it 
with all greatness of heart. The moral code of Pan- 
theism makes no room for this. Would it be decorous 
that heaven should have less magnanimity than earth ? 
That when heroes go thither they should find none so 
great as themselves? Magnanimity is not limited to 
earth. 

1. The Rescue. — In the typical rescue — the re- 
demption of ancient Israel — there was a grand heroism 
evinced. To present himself at the court of Egypt and 
prefer before her king claims to two millions of his 
subjects, was sublime in the man who did it. Moses 
was a hero-redeemer; and the fact presignified that in 
the substantive and Messianic order of things, there 
would be heroism. Let us, then, meditate upon Moses 
as a hero, and afterward upon God's Son heroically ex- 
changing heaven for earth, riches for poverty, the 
crown for the cross, life for death, and we shall per- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 169 

haps obtain a glimpse of his glory, his love and his 
heroism. 

2. Israel Unorganised. — Enslaved in Egypt to 
Pharaoh and false religion, Israel was a striking type 
of mankind enslaved to sin, Satan and death. What 
but the heroism of Moses, illuminated and made sun- 
bright by the resplendent miracles which God em- 
powered him to perform, could possibly have roused 
from their deathlike slumbers in Egypt, and prepared 
for an exodus from that country, so great a mass of 
flesh and blood — so vast a people? Yet the whole 
was but a shadow — a type of that substantive heroism 
whereby the whole world will be aroused to a sense of 
its enslavement, not merely to tyranny and idolatry, 
but also to the wicked one himself. 

3. The Transition. — The passage of Israel from 
Egypt to the wilderness, through "the cloud and sea," 
is a proper figure of the transit of the regenerated por- 
tion of mankind passing, by water and Spirit, or faith 
and baptism, from the world to the church. In art, 
in science, in all system — material, political and re- 
ligious — the transitional is greatly important. Here 
in the type and antitype it forms a part both of the 
spiritual and the temporal salvation. Birth, baptism, 
the telegraph, the steam-engine, the academy, algebra, 
and the dark ages in history, etc., etc., all belong to 
the transitional. 

4. Israel Nationalised. — On the fiftieth day from 
eating the passover, Israel was assembled by authority 
around the base of Mount Sinai, and on that day re- 
ceived the organic law — the two tables or ten com- 



170 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

mandments. Antitypical to this the disciples of the 
Messiah were assembled by authority in Jerusalem, 
where, fifty days after the last passover, they received 
the organic law of the "Spirit of Life," and were 
nationalized as the kingdom of God and his Messiah. 
In this order of things, Christ takes the place of the 
Jewish ceremonial, and the Holy Spirit the place of 
the law. 

5. Their Wilderness State. — Touching Israel in 
the wilderness, we can not conceive how so great and 
wise a man, as was their hero, should, except by divine 
authority have led them into such a desert — a land 
made terrible by "fiery flying serpents, and scorpions 
and drought;" a desert of sand and shrubs, of pits 
and the shadow of death, of rocks and hoary moun- 
tains, where desolation herself held her solitary reign. 
But "the man of God" knew by whose authority all 
things were done ; therefore were they fed by miracle. 
The Most High gave them angels' food; he fed them 
with manna and gave them water from the rock ; their 
raiment waxed not old, neither did their sandals wear 
out, or their feet swell for forty years. As an eagle 
stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spread- 
eth abroad her wings, so the Lord alone did lead 
them, and there was no strange God with them. 
Deut. 32. 

But the antitypical people, Christians, are vastly 
more numerous than ever were the typical, and now 
form the grandest nations upon earth. Yet, in the 
wilderness of this world, where all the enginery of 
the old serpent is in full play, God feeds them. Or 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 171 

if he "suffers us to hunger," it is that he "may humble" 
us, that he may "prove" us, and make us "know our 
own heart;" and that "man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God." 

"Behold what manner of love the Father hath be- 
stowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of 
God. Therefore, the world knoweth us not, even as it 
knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, 
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we 
know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, 
for we shall see him as he is. And every one who 
hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is 
pure." — 1 John, 3. The church is in her wilderness 
state, and is misapprehended and unknown by the 
world. 

But God not only fed Israel, but gave them drink 
from the rock . The people thirsted for water, and in 
their terrible destitution were ready to stone Moses, 
the man of God. But Jehovah, equal to every emer- 
gency, came to the rescue, and directed his most ven- 
erable servant, with the elders of Israel, to go unto 
the rock Horeb. The command was that he should 
"smite the rock," and the promise, that it should "give 
forth water" for the people to drink. All the elements 
of this scene are great and sublime. Horeb, white 
with years, elevates his hoary head to mid-heaven in 
the front of the thousands of Israel, who lay encamped 
around his base. Moses, with the elders, has taken 
his position, and stands with the rod of God in his 
hand, ready to smite at the signal given. "I will stand 



172 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

before thee on the rock." The eyes of the impatient 
and thirsty Israelites are eagerly fixed on Moses ; while 
he, from his giddy eminence on the rock, sees far and 
wide below him the tents of Jacob stretching away in 
the distance. 

At early morn the sacred cloud, at a distance not to 
be measured by the eye, inclined, we may suppose, 
toward Mount Horeb, and shading the tribes below, 
was gazed on by all with eager expectation. After 
a tedious but solemn interval the center became the 
point of incidence and the cloud was seen to lower 
itself with awe-inspiring grandeur, till at last, in the 
form of a reversed pyramid, it reached the nadir of 
descent — the highest summit of the venerable Horeb! 
The glory of the Universe stood before Moses on the 
rock. 

This was the signal to smite. He did so; and sud- 
denly, as if a sea had been tapped, the waters gushed 
forth as a torrent and ran "as a stream in the desert." 
The cloud enveloped the mountain, and "thou, O God, 
didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm 
thine inheritance when it was weary." — Ps. 68, 9. 
"That rock," says the apostle, "was Christ." — 1 Cor. 
10. That is, I suppose, the rock with the divinity on 
it was a type of Christ with the divinity in him, whence 
we draw living water, water from the rock to refresh 
us when we are weary. 

6. Their Rest in Canaan. — We have glanced at 
Israel in their inorganic, transitional and organic 
states. But the type is double. It was in their organic 
state they sojourned in the wilderness, in this state 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 173 

they passed through Jordan, and in this state they 
entered into Canaan. It is as organic elements of the 
church that Christians sojourn on earth; it is as such 
they pass the Jordan of death; and it is as such they 
ascend to the true Canaan. 

The typical inheritance was a land of brooks of 
water and fountains and depths that spring out of the 
valleys and hills — a land of wheat and barley, of fig 
trees and vines, of pomegranates and olives, and milk 
and honey, and wine and oil — a land blessed of the 
Lord, fresh with the dews of heaven and fat with corn 
and wine — the glory of all lands, wherein Israel did 
eat meat to the full. Yet "the rest that remaineth for 
the people of God" is but poorly typified even by such 
a land. In our march through the wilderness of this 
world, till we reach the Jordan of death, we too are 
fed with manna, and refreshed with living water from 
the Rock. Our vestments and sandals of peace and 
righteousness, like the garments and sandals of Israel, 
according to the flesh wax not old ; and our faith and 
heart, like their eyes turned to Jehovah in the cloud, 
ever turn to Jehovah in the flesh, who is to us a pillar 
of cloud to shade us by day, and a pillar of fire to give 
us light by night. 

We traverse the frozen North, the burning Sahara 
of rosy Africa, the flowering pampas of the shining 
South and West ; we roam the isles and archipelagoes 
of all seas ; ascend all rivers, climb all mountains, and 
dare the war of all the elements; yet our "feet swell 
not." Our souls are missionary; the energies of 
Yahveh Jesus, the Spirit of God is in us; the world 



174 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

is ours, hinder us not; we must possess it; we will 
take it. Though unknown and greatly afflicted, we 
seasonably renew our strength at the fountain of life; 
we soar the world around; we "mount up as on the 
wings of eagles; we run and are not weary; we walk 
and are not faint." Is. 40. 

Touching the people of God in the present wicked 
world, to see that they are appointed to tribulation, we 
have but to look at Israel in the wilderness. "The 
world knoweth us not." Yet "there remaineth a rest 
for the people of God." 

To create a great and famous nation, and make it 
an involuntary type of another nation; to constitute 
the redemption of the former, the sensible type of the 
redemption of the latter ; hold it in his hand for fifteen 
centuries and cast it away in the presence of all the 
world when the substantive nation appeared, are, of 
all the doings of God in this world, among the most 
remarkable and sublime. 

But the words "redemption," "redeemer," and "re- 
deemed," indicating the world's salvation, must needs 
be defined and understood; and it required all the 
potency of these celebrated and tremendous deeds — all 
the salvation that God granted to Israel, and all the 
plauges which he inflicted on Pharaoh — to impart to 
our obtuse thoughts a lively and well-defined apprehen- 
sion of the meaning and certainty of the great redemp- 
tion. Christians will at last be rescued from sin, death, 
and the grave, as certainly as Israel was rescued from 
Egypt, Pharaoh, and false religion. 

Moses was not merely a redeemer, but a prince who 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 175 

ruled those whom he redeemed, and in this quality was 
a type of the Messiah. 

On the supposition that the Creator had set him- 
self to rescue fallen man and re-established his own 
authority on the earth, we would naturally suppose 
that his attributes of creation and sovereignty would 
again be called into requisition, and developed in the 
origination and organization of a people to be called 
by his name as his family, nation, or kingdom. His- 
tory meets our conjectures here, and recognizes ancient 
Israel as that kingdom. 

Again, as there really subsists between the Old and 
the New Testament the typical relation claimed, then 
we naturally conjecture that the substantive or Mes- 
sianic kingdom will be clearly anticipated in. the 
shadowy department of these oracles, and set forth 
there both in its inner and outer forms, by some prom- 
ient and illustrious type that will greatly aid and define 
our conceptions of this kingdom in some important 
particulars. Accordingly we find that to be histori- 
cally true, which we would naturally expect on the as- 
sumption of the literal fact. The things spoken by 
Moses were spoken "for a testimony" or type of the 
things afterward to be "spoken by Christ;" or the 
nation of Israel organized with a mild government and 
the typical religion, is a figure of the future Messianic 
people organized with just government and the Chris- 
tian religion. The kingdom of Israel was composite, 
and had its civil as well as its religious department; 
the former ruled by Moses and the latter by Aaron. 



176 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

However varied, there are but two classes of sover- 
eign power, namely : 

The inner and the outer, or 
The spiritual and the political. 

The political is outward and secular, taking cogni- 
zance only of actions; the spiritual is inner and relig- 
ious, taking cognizance also of thoughts. Israel was 
nationalized with these two classes of sovereign power, 
being personally and politically responsible to Moses, 
their civil ruler; and in their consciences subject to 
Aaron, as Gods' High Priest, the head of the religious 
department. 

The Jews hold to the perpetual obligation of their 
law. Now that system of things or the kingdom of 
Israel was necessarily one of two terms, both of which 
could not possibly be true; that is, it either was that 
grand kingdom promised to the Fathers in the Holy 
Scriptures, which was to take cognizance of the "reins 
and heart," or it was not. If it was, then Aaron, as 
the High Priest of God, had the power of adjudicating 
on "the thoughts and intents of the heart." But we 
know that he possessed no such power; and in this 
consisted the principal defect of his order. The inner 
government is divine, and nothing short of divinity can 
possibly administer it, and nothing but a conviction of 
God's omniscience can form its basis. It is from his 
appointment to this inner authority and rule — this 
perfect kind of government, that we know that Jesus 
our Lord is divine. He says of one of the churches, 
"I will punish her children with death, and all the 
churches shall know that I am he that trieth the reins 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 177 

and heart." On account of the imperfection of the 
Levitical order, therefore, the inner government passed 
from Levi to Judah, or from Aaron to Christ. The 
worshiper under Christ must not only do no evil, 
but he must not think it. Our High Priest speaks 
thus, "Why do evil thoughts arise in your heart?" 
The first prayer put up to Christ, our great High 
Priest, after his ascent to heaven, had reference to 
his omniscience; "Thou, O Lord, who knoweth 
the hearts of all men, show which of these twain thou 
wilt choose." 

If then the kingdom of Israel was not that order of 
things promised to the Fathers, as we see it could not 
on account of the defectiveness of its hierarchical order 
be, we ask what was it? Internally and externally in 
Aaron as in Moses, it was a type of the outer and inner 
government of the Messiah's empire. 

Israel in the wilderness was not organized relig- 
iously till a year after they were organized civilly. But 
as certainly as outward action implies inward thought, 
so certainly do these two forms .of government imply 
each other. For as the outer or political is for peace, 
so the inner or spiritual is for salvation. Where there 
is no outer government there can be no peace, and 
where there is no inner, there can be no salvation. 
Where there is neither peace nor salvation, where 
men obey neither magistrates nor mediators, the state 
is in anarchy ; now "any kind of government is better 
than no government;" and the Jews falling into this 
anarchy after the coming of Christ, were cast away. 



178 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

The inner government of God's kingdom passed into 
the hands of Christ. 

The powers of Israel, their throne and altar, their 
crown and miter, their croisier and scepter, their king 
and priest, reproducing themselves from age to age, 
had but echoed along the centuries from Moses to 
Christ their own defectiveness and the inexorable ne- 
cessity of placing the two forms of government in the 
hands of Christ and his saints, as prophecy indicated. 

One will say, "we have seen the consciences of God's 
people pass into the hands of Messiah, but when did 
the outer government pass into the hands of his saints 
— after the ascension of Christ, his disciples were 
citizens of the Roman empire as before, and since?" 
I answer, God ofttimes redeems his promises as we do 
our notes, by installments. Israel was organized 
civilly before they were organized religiously; in 
Christianity this order is reversed. We have received 
the inner government first; but the time will come 
"when the saints," as Daniel says, "shall possess the 
government," and all "power, authority and rule" be 
recovered to God by his Son and his saints. 

God says to Israel, "I have taken you to be my 
servants; you shall not sell the land forever, for the 
land is mine, and ye are strangers and sojourners with 
me" (Lev. 25). 

When, therefore, we look at Moses and Aaron as 
the servants of God, and the kingdom of Israel as in 
a state of vassalage or involuntary servitude to God; 
when we see them all internally and externally as types 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 179 

of the future Messianic order of things, we see them 
in a proper point of view. 

As certainly then as Moses ministered the civil law, 
and Aaron the ceremonial in Israel, so certainly in 
the Milennium will Christ minister, as he does now, 
the inner government and his saints the outer over all 
the earth ! All shall be right in the church, all right in 
the state, and the kingdom of this world organized 
with mild and beneficent government, and the true 
religion shall shine forth as the kingdoms of our Lord 
and his Messiah forever and ever. Good government 
and the true religion make a Millennium. 

I have said this type is double. By this I mean that 
while in its inorganic, transitional and organic states, it 
prefigured our religion in these three states, it also as 
an organism journeying in the wilderness under Moses, 
toward Jordan and the Holy Land, typified the Chris- 
tian Church passing through the wilderness of this 
world under Christ, toward the Jordan of death and 
the heavenly Canaan that lies beyond. 

"O'er all those wide extended fields 

Shines one eternal day; 
There God, the Sun, forever shines, 
And scatters night away." 

To rescue from the iron grasp of a tyrant two mil- 
lions of human beings, to take them by great signs and 
wonders from their ancient abodes, and lead them 
through the sea into a wilderness where they could 
be fed and sustained in all things only by miracles; 
to nationalize them there with a mild government and 
the true religion, and keep them in the desert forty 



180 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

years, till he had taught them new manners and cus- 
toms, new laws and civil institutions, and by judg- 
ments purged out from among them all the rebels, 
were the greatest of all God's doings in the ancient 
world. 

Well might Moses appeal to them for the grandeur 
of the whole and say : 

"Ask now of the days that are past which were be- 
fore thee ; since God created man upon the earth ; and 
ask from one side of heaven to the other, whether there 
has been anything as this great thing is, or hath been 
heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God 
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, 
and live? Or hath God essayed to go and take a 
nation from the midst of another nation by tempta- 
tions, by signs, and by wonders, and by wars, 
and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out 
arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the 
Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 
Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that 
Jehovah he is God; there is none else beside him" 
(Deut. 4). 

As, then, our first set of types, Adam, the flood and 
Melchisedek, presignified respectively the following: 

(1) Regenerative Headship, 

(2) Transition, 

(3) Organization, 

So Israel after the flesh, in their exodus from Egypt, 
prefigured the same. And in this display of his om- 
niscience the Most High was but laying deep in his 
divinity the foundation of our faith and of his own 



•-«* 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 181 

government among men; for the typical kingdom of 
Israel, in its great redemption from Egypt, is not 
merely a sign, like Adam, the flood and Melchisedec, 
but a design, a bright outline of the Messianic kingdom 
in its fullness. It was not, as in their case, three dis- 
tinct types making but one outline; but one grand 
type passing from bondage to liberty, from slavery to 
a great salvation, and thereby describing the future 
spiritual kingdom of Messiah as passing by baptism 
from slavery to liberty, from the world to the church 
through its several phases, as follows : 

1. The Inorganic. 

2. The Transitional. 

3. The Organic. 

It is said by Lord Bacon that "things are double." 
They are certainly so in this instance, the type being 
for the eye of the body, and the antitype for the eye 
of the mind ; the former for observation, the latter for 
reflection; the visible for sense, the invisible for faith. 

The typical system of the Bible is a fundamental 
portion of the Bible, and was evidently elaborated and 
wrought out by its author in order to secure future 
ages against the numerous impostures which darken 
and affect the history of the world. Any code of 
religion offering itself for the faith of mankind, if it 
bears not the stamp of God's omniscience and the 
typical co-relation, cannot be of the Scriptures. But 
Christianity being the very complement of its typology, 
must be the true religion. 

How, but by inspiration, could Moses possibly fore- 
know and foreshow, at the distance of fifteen centuries, 



182 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

that the Messiah, like himself, would be a hero-Re- 
deemer — a law-giver at that? The fortuitous here 
would be encumbered with greater difficulties than 
the designed — the incidental with more than the mi- 
raculous. 

Prophecy is the history of the world, casting its 
shadow before. 



ADDRESS TO THE DISCIPLES. 

BY JOHN SMITH. 

John (Raccoon) Smith was born in Sullivan County, Tenn., 
October 15, 1784. Died at Mexico, Mo., February 28, 1868. 

The following from the "Life of John Smith" by J. A. 
Williams will serve to explain the causes that brought out the 
"Address to the Brethren" : 

His travels as an evangelist now (1832) began; and, with 
the same zeal that had inspired him in 1828, he went abroad, 
far and near, laboring unceasingly to reform, to unite, and to 
convert. His voice was heard along the valley of the Big 
Sandy in the east, and upon the banks of the Green River in 
the west. He proclaimed the unsearchable riches of Christ in 
the counties upon the Ohio, and constituted churches along the 
borders of Tennessee. 

He soon discovered that while the disposition to affiliate with 
all true Christians, on the Bible alone, was very general among 
his brethren, yet their prejudice against B. W. Stone, growing 
out of their ignorance of his doctrine, was, in some other places 
also, a formidable barrier to union. Some, too, in their oppo- 
sition to all measures of expediency in matters of religion, in 
their pious distrust of human wisdom, or their scrupulous devo- 
tion to the letter of the New Testament, demanded a special 
precept for the action of the elders and brethren about George- 
town in setting apart the two evangelists, and pledging them 
a compensation for their services. Such men now refused their 
co-operation, and otherwise discouraged the execution of the 
plan adopted. "But we are fully able, and fully determined," 
said Stone, "to assist these evangelists to support their depend- 
ent families, should all others forsake us." 

For the benefit of those Reformers who honestly doubted 
the wisdom or propriety of the affiliation which he had helped 
to bring about, and which he was now laboring to extend and 
confirm throughout the State, Smith prepared and published an 

183 



184 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

address, in which he endeavored to meet and remove their 
objections. 

Concerning his address, John Rogers, his co-laborer, remarks : 
"The simplicity, the candor, the charity, the piety, the dignity 
and noble independence which this communication exhibits, are 
characteristic of the man who wrote it, and, what is better, of 
the religion which he professes. And I am much mistaken if 
it does not contain a fair and clear statement, as far as it goes, 
of the principles and practices of the Christian brethren in 
these regions, and not only here, but generally in the West. 
I do, therefore, confidently hope that it will be greatly useful 
in promoting the good work of union and co-operation among 
those who have acknowledged and submitted to the one Lord, 
one faith, and one baptism, the one God and Father of all, who 
is over all, and with all, and in all. 



It becomes my duty to lay before our brethren and 
the public the principle from which I acted, when, with 
many Reformers, so-called, and many of those called 
Christians, we met together, broke the loaf, and united 
in all the acts of social worship. It will be recollected 
that all our remarks relative to the Christian brethren 
are confined to those with whom we have associated 
about Lexington, Georgetown, Paris, Millersburgh, 
and Carlisle. When the Christians and the Reforming 
brethren united, as above named, we calculated at the 
time that the captious, cold-hearted, sectarian pro- 
fessor, and the friends of religious systems formed by 
human device, would misrepresent and slander us. But 
we do not mind all this. It is no more than we expect 
from such characters ; and we hope we shall always be 
able to bear reviling like Christians, and not revile 
again. We do not publish this address with the hope 
of satisfying or silencing our opposers; but hearing 
that some of our warm-hearted, pious, reforming 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 185 

brethren, having heard many reports, and not being 
correctly informed on this subject, have become un- 
easy, fearing that the good cause of Reformation may 
be injured by the course which we have taken in re- 
lation to the Christian brethren, we therefore feel it 
to be a duty which we owe to our brethren, and to the 
cause which we profess, to lay before them and the 
public, candidly and plainly, the principle from which 
we have acted, relative to this matter, which is as 
follows : 

When we fell in company with the Christian 
teachers, we conversed freely and friendly together. 
With some one or other of them we have conversed on 
all the supposed points of difference between them and 
the Reformers, and all the erroneous sentiments which 
I had heard laid to their charge, such as the following : 

1. That they deny the Atonement. On this point 
I found the truth to be, in substance, about this : that 
they do not deny the Atonement, but they do deny the 
explanation which some give of it. At the same time 
they declare that pardon and salvation here are ob- 
tained through faith in the sacrifice and blood of Jesus 
Christ. They expect, and pray for, all spiritual bless- 
ings through the same medium, and hope to overcome 
at the last, and obtain eternal salvation, by the blood 
of the Lamb, and by the Word of his testimony. This, 
substantially, if not verbatim, one of their principal 
teachers said to me; and this, I believe, they are all 
willing to say, so far as I have been conversant with 
them. 

When I have conversed with them about the various 



186 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

speculations upon the character of Christ, or the modus 
existendi of the Divine Being, they have said that, by 
the misrepresentations and violent opposition of their 
enemies, they had been sometimes driven into specula- 
tions on that subject. They also say they are not will- 
ing, but desirous, that all speculations on that subject 
may cease forever; and that all should speak of the 
Saviour of sinners in the language of the inspired 
writers, and render unto him such honor as did the 
primitive Christians. So say I ; and let Unitarianism, 
Trinitarianism, and all other human isms, return from 
whence they came, and no more divide the affections, 
prevent nor destroy the union, of Christians forever. 
Amen, and Amen ! 

2. I have also conversed freely with the Christian 
teachers upon the subject of receiving the unimmersed 
in to the church, and of communing with them at the 
Lord's table. They have said that they have had, and 
still have; in some degree, their difficulties on this 
subject. In their first outset they were all pedo- 
baptists. Having determined to take the word of God 
alone for their guide, some of them soon became con- 
vinced that immersion was the only Gospel baptism; 
and they submitted to it accordingly. They went on 
teaching others to do likewise ; the result has been that 
all, with very few exceptions, belonging to their con- 
gregations in this section of country, have submitted 
to immersion. They have not, for several years past, 
received any as members of their body without im- 
mersion. And, with regard to the propriety of com- 
muning at the Lord's table with the unimmersed, thev 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 187 

are determined to say no more about it, there being 
no apostolic precept nor example to enforce it. 
But whatever degree of forbearance they may think 
proper to exercise toward the unimmersed as best 
suited to the present state of things, they are deter- 
mined, by a proper course of teaching, and practicing 
the apostolic Gospel, to bring all, as fast as they can, 
to unite around the cross of Christ — submitting to the 
one Lord, one faith, one immersion, and thus form 
one body upon the one foundation, according to the 
apostolic order of things. 

Here I must say, that when the Christian brethren 
have spread the Lord's table in my presence, they did 
not invite* the unimmersed to participate. When the 
Apostle said, "Let a man examine himself, and 
so let him eat," he did not say this to the unimmersed, 
or those who were not in the kingdom, but to the 
church of God at Corinth, the members of which had 
heard, believed, and had been immersed. (Acts 18:8). 
In a word, I believe that the Christian teachers with 
whom I have had intercourse teach as plainly, and as 
purely, what the primitive teachers taught, and require 
as precisely what they required, in order to the admis- 
sion of members into the congregation of Christ, as 
any people with whom I am acquainted. 

I have not written this for the sake of the Christian 
brethren, but for the sake of some of our Reforming 
brethren, who seem to be alarmed, fearing that I and 



* Nor debar them. — B. W. Stone and J. T. Johnson, Editors 
Christian Messenger. 



188 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

some other Reforming teachers have injured the good 
cause in which we have been engaged by sanctioning 
all the speculations and errors which have been laid to 
the charge of the people called Christians, whether 
justly or unjustly. That our Reforming brethren may 
be enabled to judge and determine upon the propriety 
or impropriety of our conduct, when we and the 
Christian brethren united in all the acts of social wor- 
ship, we have thought it proper to lay before them 
what we understand to be the views and the practice 
of the Christian teachers, in the several important par- 
ticulars named above. 

If, in doing this, we have in any particular been 
mistaken, or have misrepresented them, we can assure 
them that we have not done it designedly; they will, 
therefore, have the goodness to correct the error, and 
pardon me. On the other hand, if the above named 
views of the Christian brethren be correct, I would 
then ask any brother, what law of Christ is violated 
when we break the loaf together? Or when we meet 
with those on the King's highway, who have been im- 
mersed upon a profession of their faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and are walking in his commandments, 
by what rule found in the New Testament could we 
reject them, or refuse to break bread with them? 

3. It may be asked, if the people called Christians, 
who have ceased to speculate upon the character of 
Christ, have given up their Unitarian opinions? And 
may it not as well be asked, have they who speculate 
upon the character of Christ before they became Re- 
formers given up their Trinitarian opinions? To 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 189 

both these questions I would answer, I do not know, 
neither do I care. We should always allow to others 
that which we claim for ourselves — the right of private 
judgment. 

If either Christians or Reformers have erroneous 
opinions, they never can injure any person, provided 
we all have prudence enough to keep them to ourselves. 
Neither will they injure us, if we continue to believe 
the Gospel facts, and obey the law of the King. If 
all who profess to be teachers of the Christian religion 
would keep their opinions to themselves, teach the 
Gospel facts, and urge the people to obey them, the 
world would soon be delivered from the wretched, dis- 
tracting, and destructive influences of mystical preach- 
ing. 

4. Again, it is asked, when you break bread with 
those called Christians about Georgetown, etc., do you 
not sanction all the sectarian speculations of all those 
who are called by the same name throughout the 
United States? No. The Christian churches are not 
bound together by written, human laws, like many 
others; and even if they were, I should not believe that 
I had sanctioned any sectarian peculiarity which might 
be among them, because I find nothing either in Scrip- 
ture or reason to make me believe so. If such an idea 
had been taught in the New Testament, surely the 
Reformers never would have acted as they have done, 
and are still doing. For example: after many of us 
became Reformers, we continued to break bread with 
many of those who continued to plead for all their old 
sectarian pecularities and human traditions — even in 



190 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

our own congregation — without even so much as 
dreaming that we were sanctioning all or any of their 
unscriptural peculiarities, or those of the Associations 
with which we were in correspondence. You will say 
that all these had come into the kingdom by faith and 
immersion. Granted ; and so had those Christians with 
whom we broke bread, so far as we know. 

Once more. It is well known that brother G. Gates, 
as yet, stands formally connected with the Elkhorn 
Association; and that all the Reformers cheerfully 
commune with him, as they ought to do, at the Lord's 
table, not thinking, for one moment, that in so doing 
they sanction all the peculiarities which belong to that 
body, and all the other Associations with which they 
stand formally connected. Similar cases might be 
multiplied, but we deem it unnecessary. 

When our brethren shall have seen this, we hope 
they will be satisfied that we have not laid aside our 
former speculations, and taken up those of any other 
people. They can not think that we wish to amalga- 
mate the immersed and the unimmersed in the congre- 
gation of Christ. We do not find such amalgamation 
in the ancient congregation of Christ. Therefore, 
whilst contending for the ancient order of things, we 
can not contend for this. 

5. We are pleased with the name Christian, and do 
desire to see it divested of every sectarian idea, and 
everything else but that which distinguished the 
primitive Christians from all other people, in faith 
and practice, as the humble followers of the meek and 
lowly Redeemer. And we do believe that the Christian 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 191 

brethren about Georgetown, etc., would be as much 
gratified to see this as we would be ourselves. 

The friends of the Reformation may easily injure 
their own cause by giving to it a sectarian character; 
against which we should always be specially guarded. 
And in order to avoid this, and all other departures 
from the Apostolic order of things, we can not, we 
will not, knowingly sanction any tradition, speculation, 
or amalgamation unknown to the primitive Christian 
congregations. On the other hand, we are determined, 
by the favor of God, to the utmost of our ability, to 
teach what the primitive disciples taught; and in ad- 
mitting persons into the congregation of Christ, we 
will require what they required, and nothing more. 
We will urge the practice of all the Apostolic com- 
mands and examples given to the primitive Christians, 
and thus labor for the unity of the disciples of Christ 
upon this one foundation. And whenever we find 
others — whatever they may have been called by their 
enemies — laboring for the same object, aiming at the 
same thing, we are bound joyfully to receive them, 
treat them as Christians, and co-operate with them. 

We have now laid before our brethren, candidly 
and plainly, the principle upon which we have acted, 
relative to the union spoken of between the Christians 
and Reformers about Georgetown, etc., which, we 
think, is perfectly consistent with that from which 
we have acted for several years past. But if we have 
done anything which the Gospel or the law of Christ 
will not justify, we would be glad to know it, as we 
do desire, above all things, to know the whole truth, 



192 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

and to practice it ; and as we think that the best of us, 
either as individuals, or as congregations, are not fully 
reformed, but reforming. 

JOHN SMITH. 



SERMON ON HUMILITY. 
By William Hayden. 

Wm. Hayden was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., June 
30, 1799. Died at Chagrin Falls, O., April 7, 1863. 

"And there was a strife also among them, which of 
them should be accounted the greatest" (Luke 22 : 24). 

False ambition has, perhaps, been productive of more 
evil to the human race than any other cause. It is 
nothing else than supreme selfishness. It sometimes 
assumes very specious names and appearances. When 
it strives for the mastery in the political world, it 
styles itself patriotism. Then you hear the demagogue 
eloquently pleading the interests of the "dear people," 
the honor of his country, while denouncing his com- 
petitors as enemies to both. When it seeks for pre- 
eminence in the church, it shows itself in zeal for 
orthodoxy, for long-established usages. Or, per- 
chance, it grows dissatisfied with all these, and would 
throw society into a ferment and proclaim "reform," 
"progress with the spirit of the age," placing itself at 
the head of parties, armies, and nations, or if disap- 
pointed in this, turning misanthrope, finds fault with 
everything and complains of the ingratitude of man- 
kind. In the church, the individual no longer able to 
endure or fellowship the corruption and hypocrisy of 
brethren, leaves the church and concludes he can best 

serve his God, i e., his own pride and envy, alone. 

193 



194 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

Such persons are very zealous Christians so long as 
they can be put forward and have things in their own 
way. If an individual is suspected of possessing more 
of the confidence and esteem of the brethren than him- 
self, he can never hear without pain such brother com- 
mended; but to ease his mind with as good a grace 
as may be, he will admit there are some good 
qualities in the brother, but he has certain faults, which 
ought to be known in order to form a just estimate 
of his character. 

Doubtless many deceive themselves into a notion 
that their motives are pure, that it is the glory of God 
and the interest of his cause they have at heart, when 
pride, envy and jealousy lie at the bottom of all they 
say and do. Even the pure in heart will have enough 
to do to keep themselves pure. The religion and 
morals of paganism were quite consistent with, nay, 
encouraged and patronized this love of pre-eminence, 
insomuch that "a strife for the mastery" in all their 
games and pursuits, in peace and war, was most mani- 
fest. Their historians and poets, their painters and 
sculptors, published and extolled, celebrated and gave 
a sort of immortality to the successful aspirant, which 
in turn inflamed the ardor and fired the ambition of 
others. The consequences were that pride and all the 
warring passions of their nature were let loose and 
stimulated to the utmost; the very gods were, indeed, 
supposed to be delighted with the contest, insomuch 
that envy, rage, malevolence, with all their conse- 
quences, filled the world. 

The world could not possibly be reformed without 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 195 

a religion essentially different, which should cut off 
the very root of all those principles of action and insti- 
tute others which should implant, cherish, and culti- 
vate to perfection the opposite of the lust of the flesh, 
and the lust of the eye, and the pride or ambition of 
the world. 

Christianity is the only system of religion and morals 
that can bless the human race. Instead of pride, hu- 
mility; instead of envy, esteem for others; instead of 
hatred and revenge, gentleness, brotherly kindness, 
and benevolence. The gospel reveals to us the true 
state and condition of mankind, all guilty before God. 
With all their boasted attainments, discoveries, and 
improvements, their wisdom, learning, arts, pleasures, 
and religion, all wrong, ignorant, false, vain, destruc- 
tive to man, offensive to God, without God, without 
hope, lost. At the same time, the compassion of the 
everlasting God, his truth, justice, and mercy revealed 
in the sacrificing for our sins his only begotton Son, 
the humbling, repenting and submitting of ourselves 
to him, the infallible assurance of forgiveness, of resur- 
rection and eternal life, and the eternal condemnation 
of all who neglect the gospel, the whole sustained by 
miracles, signs, wonders, and prophecies, addressed to 
the senses and reason of mankind, calling for imme- 
diate submission. Such a proclamation honestly 
heeded could not fail to reform the human race. Noth- 
ing else could do it. Hence the gospel, and nothing 
but the gospel, is "the power of God to the salvation 
of all who really believe it." Tis this, and only this, 
that makes man to know himself, his origin, destiny, 



196 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

nature, relation, wants, wounds, sorrows, and reme- 
dies. The value his Maker sets upon him, the vanity 
of the world and all its ambitions and pomp, how 
empty and foolish its pleasures, how good and gracious 
is the Lord, how kind and gentle the Saviour, how dig- 
nified, majestic, powerful, rich, and glorious, till, his 
heart delighted, and his soul enraptured with the love 
and philanthropy of the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, he is reconciled in feeling, and obeys from 
the heart the gospel; being then free from sin, he is 
a child of God, an heir of glory; his spirit is full of 
joy, abounding in all compassion to man, his fellow. 

True Christianity makes true Christians, corrupt 
Christianity makes at best imperfect Christians. In 
the latter case, however sincere, partyism and all its 
attendant evils will more or less prevail ; in the former, 
union, humility, love, peace, and good-will, and all 
moral excellence must be the fruit. 

The first thing Christ said in his Sermon on the 
Mount was, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven." Instead of extolling pride, 
ambition, and turbulence, which have filled the earth 
with carnage, crimes, and tears, he condemns them all, 
and inculcates those principles which, however de- 
spised by heroes, poets, orators, statesmen, are the only 
principles that can promote "Glory to God in the high- 
est, peace on earth, and good will among men." 

But alas ! How slow to learn, how slow to practice 
the pure religion, the holy gospel of the Redeemer! 
And the disciples making their boasts of the Bible 
alone, how far from appreciating, honoring, and ex- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 197 

hibiting pure Christianity. Have we not seen envy 
and strife, insubordination, jealousy, rivalry, and reck- 
lessness ? "Which of us shall be accounted the great- 
est?" I am not sure that this demon has not pursued 
at times persons of all stations, the most obscure and 
private disciples, deacons, overseers, preachers, exhort- 
ers, editors. "My sacred honor" is too often mistaken 
for the honor of Christ and his cause. It is true, 
while we are clothed with mortality we shall be liable 
to faults and imperfections of character. We see such 
things everywhere, even in "the twelve," before they 
received power from on high. It is also to be lamented 
that men of the world choose rather to look at the im- 
perfections of Christians than at the perfections of 
Christianity and its glorious Author. But we can not 
prevent it ; they will not look at the religion of Christ, 
but through its advocates; and therefore the Saviour 
said, "Let your light so shine before men, that others 
seeing your good works shall glorify your Father 
w r hich is in Heaven." And an apostle said, "So is the 
will of Good that with well doing you put to silence 
the ignorance of foolish men." And in no other way 
can we open the way to the human heart. Therefore, 
how pertinent all the exhortations of the apostles to 
purity, humility, peace, and love. 

I would not be understood, however, to say there 
is no ambition to be cherished by the gospel, or that 
there is no true greatness to be aimed at by the Chris- 
tian. Far from it. But the ambition and greatness 
here is free from envy, and is compatible with the most 
pure and sincere esteem for all, even those who excel 



198 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

us. Christ said whoever wishes to be great must be 
servant. Now, suppose a brother superior for talent, 
education, or property. That brother is not haughty 
nor overbearing, but gentle, kind, condescending, full 
of liberality, and all goodness ; affects no superiority in 
apparel, style, or manners; seeks not applause; rather 
diffident than assuming; delighting in the happiness 
of others; taking pleasure in doing all he can to 
happify all around him, in his family, neighborhood, 
the church, and the world abroad. Who can envy 
him ? A man whose only superiority consists in good- 
ness can not be envied by any man, saint, or sinner, 
scarcely by a hypocrite. 

Goodness, supreme goodness, no man can hate. No 
matter how much worth, talent, learning, or fame be 
connected with it, if these be subordinate to goodness, 
and directed by wisdom, they will command the ad- 
miration and affection of the human heart. Therefore, 
it is that we love God. Therefore, it is that certain 
men will have an influence in society beyond others 
and are not envied but beloved. 

So, also, the good man can not envy any one. He 
can not envy the rich brother while himself is poor, 
if the rich one is governed by goodness. And if the 
rich, or learned, or talented, be he not a good man, 
though he be famed and admired, and have an influ- 
ence beyond what moral worth gives him, still his 
fame and influence must have an end, and his pride will 
have a fall; consequently, he is not to be envied. 

The greatest man in the world, then, is he who is 
most like the Saviour of men ; who lays all his honors, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 199 

gifts, or attainments at the feet of Jesus, and gives 
him all the glory. It is he who abounds in all good- 
ness, purity, and godly fear. It is he whose soul is 
moved at the wretchedness of mankind, and is only 
concerned to see men redeemed and God glorified 
through Jesus Christ. It is he who has the least taste, 
and is least attracted by things admired and pursued 
by the giddy, gay, ungodly world of mankind, while 
he glories in the Lord. 



CHRIST'S CONVERSATION WITH NICO- 
DEMUS. 

BY M. E. LARD. 

Moses E. Lard was born in Bedford County, Tenn., October 
29, 1818. Died at Lexington, Ky., June 17, 1880. 

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
he can not enter into the kingdom of God." — John 
3:5. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, in the judgment of 
most professors, to overestimate the importance of 
the new birth; and when we reflect on the position 
assigned it by the Saviour, this judgment must be felt 
to be correct. Without it no man can enter the king- 
dom of God. Into that kingdom he may desire to 
enter, may pray to enter, may even think he has en- 
tered ; but into it he can never go without being born 
again. This determines its value. 

Now, in whatever the new birth may consist, what- 
ever processes may be necessary to complete it, no 
matter how many, nor what its component parts, of 
one thing I am satisfied: its solution must be sought 
mainly in a well-conducted analysis of the conversa- 
tion with Nicodemus. If, on examination, this con- 
versation does not suggest its explanation, I shall 
despair of ever attaining) one. Confirmation from 
other portions of Holy Writ this explanation may 
200 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 201 

receive, but a solution the new birth itself will not 
receive. The conversation with Nicodemus is the very- 
soil in which the pearl lies buried. 

At once, then, I come to consider the great doc- 
trinal statement in that conversation which involves 
the whole subject. It runs thus : "Except a man be 
born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into 
the kingdom of God." This statement I regard as 
presenting us with a complete view of the new birth, 
as informing us in what it consists, as comprehend- 
ing, in other words, the two grand facts which con- 
stitute it. In the declaration, "Except a man be born 
again he can not see the kingdom of God," the Saviour 
merely propounds the doctrine of the new birth gen- 
erally, in a statement of the necessity of it; whereas, 
in the more elaborate statement, "Except a man be 
born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into 
the kingdom of God," he states definitely in what it 
consists, reiterating the necessity of it. The former 
statement propounds the doctrine, the latter statement 
explains it. 

Now, unless it should turn out that the Saviour has 
made provision equally for the salvation of those 
within and those without the kingdom of God, then 
the necessity of the new birth becomes absolute and 
overwhelming. If the blessing of remission of sins 
be limited to those within the kingdom, then neither 
flight of fancy nor fertility of imagination can exag- 
gerate the importance of being born again. Should 
it so happen, moreover, that the Saviour has, in the 
declaration now in hand, afforded us the means of 



202 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

knowing what it is to be born again; if he has put it 
beyond our power to plead unavoidable ignorance in 
regard to it, pity, Lord, pity the willful blindness of 
countless thousands who now call themselves the chil- 
dren of God! 

The great statement of which I am now treating 
naturally divides itself into two clauses, each clause 
comprehending an integral part of the new birth, and 
the two parts exhausting it. These clauses are, re- 
spectively : Born of water, born of the Spirit. I shall 
now attempt to unfold their meaning at length, and 
in the order in which they occur. 

The first question to be settled, and a most impor- 
tant one, is : In what sense are we to construe the 
expression born of water, in a literal or in a figura- 
tive sense? This question will, perhaps, be best an- 
swered by resolving the expression into the two simple 
members which compose it, and by examining each 
of them separately. These members are born of and 
zvater. To some this division may seem unnecessarily 
minute. I do not think it so. By thus breaking down 
the clause into these two simple verbal members, its 
subjects come singly into view, by which means each 
can be subjected to a more severe, because a more 
distinct, examination. 

Upon the import of the expression "born of," which 
all allow to be metaphorical, there exists, I believe, 
no diversity of opinion, provided only we can settle 
definitely the import of the term water. Are we, then, 
to construe this term in its ordinary and literal ac- 
ceptation or in a figurative sense? In the latter sense, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 203 

respond many. Let us now examine the hypothesis 
implied in this response, which, being concisely ex- 
pressed in the form of a proposition, is this : The term 
water is figurative. 

But this proposition is only asserted ; it is not proved. 
Before, therefore, it can justly challenge our assent, 
it must be supported by relevant and satisfactory tes- 
timony. This testimony we have a right to demand, 
yet it has never been adduced, though the proposition 
has often been reasserted. In proving the proposition, 
we should expect to see a course pursued something 
like the following: We should expect an accurate 
analysis of the new birth, in which its constituent parts 
would all be clearly pointed out; we should expect 
an orderly enumeration of these parts, each being com- 
plete without water; we should expect at least a few 
apt remarks on the grounds and propriety of using 
the term water in a figurative sense ; we should expect 
to be shown, with remarkable clearness, what thing 
the term, in its figurative sense, is intended to denote — 
precisely what it expresses; we should expect to be 
shown that this thing, thus expressed, actually con- 
stituted one of the previously enumerated parts of the 
new birth; and, finally, we should expect the whole 
argument to be strongly summed up, and the results 
shown to correspond minutely with the great ele- 
mentary doctrines of salvation as set forth by Christ 
and His apostles. But have these reasonable expecta- 
tions been gratified? They have not. 

Here, then, I might, on grounds strictly just, rest 
for the present the discussion of this proposition. I 



204 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

shall, however, proceed to test its accuracy still fur- 
ther, though, in logical fairness, under no obligation 
to do so. 

The term water is figurative. This is a tough say- 
ing. Innumerable have been the efforts which have 
been made to sustain it; yet not the semblance of suc- 
cess has ever crowned one of them. On all lies the 
stain of iniquity. What, I am curious to know, has 
ever put it into any head of man to say of the term, 
it is figurative? The answer is not difficult. The lit- 
eral meaning of the term stands against those who have 
so said ; stands against their tenets, and shuts them out 
of the kingdom of God. Hence, to accommodate them 
it must be figurative. This, and no other, is the answer. 

But is the term figurative? Then is it so for suffi- 
cient reasons, which being assigned, would account 
for the fact; and these reasons are discoverable. For 
if no such reasons exist, then is the term figurative 
without a reason, which, in the case of a term used 
by the Saviour, is inadmissible ; and unless discoverable, 
though the reasons may exist, the effect is the same 
with us as though they had no existence. It is pre- 
sumed, then, that these reasons, unless purely imagi- 
nary, will be found in some one or more of the fol- 
lowing items: 

1. The nature of the case, of the new birth; 

2. The laws regulating the use of figurative lan- 
guage; or, 

3. The sense resulting from a figurative construc- 
tion. 

First, then, as to the nature of the case. This I 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 205 

conceive to be the ground on which chiefly, if not 
alone, the figurative construction of the term water 
is to be defended. For if the nature of the case be 
such that this term can not be, in a literal acceptation, 
predicated of it, even in part, then is the figurative 
construction the alternative we must accept. Are we, 
then, obliged, by a necessity inherent in the nature of 
the case, to construe the term water figuratively? If 
not, then must we construe it ordinarily and literally ? 
Now, if any such inherent necessity exist, it must be 
owing to the fact that the new birth is, in all its parts 
and circumstances, complete without water ; for, if not 
thus complete, then we need the term water to express 
the fact. But before we can infer anything from the 
nature of the case, we must, of course, know what the 
case itself is. Here, now, we encounter a serious 
difficulty. For, until the import of the term water 
is settled, the meaning of the new birth remains doubt- 
ful. This is one of the terms employed by the Saviour 
to describe the new birth. Until, therefore, we settle 
its meaning, we remain ignorant to this extent of what 
the new birth is. Hence, from the nature of this thing 
we can infer nothing. 

But should it be alleged that we can know, in- 
dependently of the import of the term water, in what 
the new birth consists, and therefore in what accepta- 
tion the term is to be taken, I ask how? There are 
but two possible ways. Either we must be able to 
know it in and of ourselves, and independently of the 
Word of God, or from passages of Scripture which 
contain no allusion to water. No one who is not will- 



206 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ing to be the dupe of his own fancy, will assert that 
he can know anything of the matter in the first-named 
way. Neither can he know anything of it in the sec- 
ond, for the only passage in the New Testament, 
which describes the new birth fully, contains the term 
water. Hence, till we know what this term means, 
we shall never know what the new birth is. 

Second. As to the laws regulating the use of fig- 
urative language. Most words, as is well known to 
the reader, are capable of being used in two accepta- 
tions : a literal or ordinary, and figurative ; some even 
in three: literal, ordinary, and figurative. In many 
instances it happens that the ordinary import and the 
literal are the same, as is the case with the term water ; 
in some, again, the ordinary and the figurative agree, 
while the literal often differs from both. Hence, in 
construing a passage, the first thing in order is to 
ascertain, by the aid of some safe rule, the acceptation 
in which its terms are to be taken. This rule is, with 
one consent, allowed to be mainly the sense intended 
by the writer. But this, though the chief, is not the 
only means frequently at hand for determining this 
point. The manner in which a term is introduced 
often enables us to decide it. When a term is attended 
by the words like, so as, with many others, which 
serve to introduce comparisons and other figures, we 
at once pronounce the term, so attended, figurative. 
But where this is not the case, and where the sense 
does not imperatively demand it, it is both arbitrary 
and dangerous to construe a term figuratively. 

Now, is the term water, in the clause in hand, at- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 207 

tended by any verbal sign indicative of a figurative 
use? Certainly not. Here, then, the inference is 
conclusive against a figurative construction. But does 
not the sense of the passage require it to be so con- 
strued? True, it is so asserted; but this is precisely 
the thing which I deny, and which I do not intend shall 
be taken for granted. But the assertion can not be 
true; for, on the contrary, it is only when the term 
is construed literally that the clause makes any sense 
at all. Construe it figuratively, and you forever hide 
every vestige of meaning in the clause. Indeed, the 
real question here at issue is not whether the term 
is or is not figurative, but whether it has a literal, or 
absolutely no meaning. The question is not what 
meaning are men willing to receive, but what is the 
meaning they must receive, or reject all meaning. Too 
many, I well know, are not willing to receive the lit- 
eral meaning; and this is their sole reason for pre- 
ferring a figurative one. But this is not to make the 
will of God, but the preference of man, our rule of 
action. 

But let us concede for a moment that the term water 
is figurative. To what class, then, of figurative words 
does it belong? Indisputably it is a metaphor; for to 
this class belong all those words which are used figu- 
ratively with no verbal sign to denote the fact. Now, 
a word is used metaphorically when it is taken from 
denoting what it ordinarily means to become, for the 
present, the name of something which it does not ordi- 
narily mean. Still, in all cases, it becomes the name 
of some real thing, never of nothing. A word, more- 



208 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

over, is used metaphorically because the thing which 
it usually denotes resembles, in more or less respects, 
the thing which it is used metaphorically to denote, 
and because it is wished to suggest that resemblance. 
Of metaphors there are two classes, determined by the 
manner in which we discover the meaning of the meta- 
phoric word. To the first class belong all those words 
which, on being simply heard in their connection, in- 
stantly, without any extrinsic aid, suggest to the mind 
their meaning. To the second all those words which, 
on being simply heard, do not instantly suggest their 
meaning, so deeply is it hid, but have it brought out 
by some added explanation. 

The following may serve as instances of the two 
classes : 

1. The Saviour said of Herod: "Go and tell that 
fox, behold I cast out demons, and I do cures to-day 
and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." 
Here we as instantly collect His meaning as if he had 
said, Go and tell that cunning king. 

2. "He that believes in me, as the Scripture has 
said, out of him shall flow rivers of living water" 
Here the mind is held in complete suspense, unable to 
penetrate the mystery in which the term water involves 
the sentence, until it is added : "But this spoke he 
of the Spirit which they that believe on him should 
receive." 

Now, to which of these two classes — and there are 
no others — does the term water, now in question, be- 
long? Not to the latter; for no explanatory clause is 
added. Neither to the former; for, on being pro- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 209 

nounced, it suggests, on the figurative hypothesis, just 
no meaning at all. Hence, again from these premises 
nothing can be inferred in support of the preceding 
proposition, but, rather, it is felt to be false. 

Third. The sense resulting from a figurative con- 
struction. This brings me to notice the most objec- 
tionable feature in this whole theory; for, not only 
has the term water been treated as figurative, without 
a single reason, but, where it has been assigned any 
meaning at all, it has been a most fanciful one. Surely, 
my hearers need not be informed that figurative lan- 
guage has meaning no less than literal; nor that an 
idea is wholly unaffected by the kind of language in 
which it is conveyed. A thought remains the same 
whether communicated in literal or in figurative lan- 
guage. But, clearly, he who asserts a word to be 
figurative, must know what it means; otherwise, if 
conscientious, he would not venture the assertion. 
Hence, clearly, must they who assert that the term 
water is figurative know what it means? But have 
they pointed that meaning out? Never; this they 
dare not attempt. 

True, we are told that water is an emblem — an em- 
blem, too, of purification. But the term water, now in 
hand, is held to be figurative; hence, of course, there 
is here no water. It is excluded by the very nature 
of the case; therefore, since there is here no water, 
there is here no emblem; and since no emblem, noth- 
ing emblemized, and hence no purification. Thus this 
groundless conceit vanishes. 

But is the term water figurative? Granted, for a 



210 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

moment. Still, it has meaning. Let, now, this mean- 
ing be determined — definitely determined. Next, let 
the term water be displaced from the clause in hand, 
but its meaning retained in some fit word. Then let 
us read: "Except a man be born of [the thing which 
the term water denotes, no matter what it is] and the 
Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." 
From this there is absolutely no escape. Settle what 
the term water stands for. Then, of that thing unless 
a man be born, against him the kingdom of God is 
forever shut. True, we thus get rid of the water; 
but whether we thereby ease the way into the kingdom 
of God may well be doubted. Still, two things are 
left, of both of which we must be born. This increases 
difficulties, not diminishes them; hence, better retain 
the water. Then only are we true to reason, true to 
Christ. 

Since, then, it is only asserted, not proved, that 
the term water is figurative ; since there is no inherent 
necessity in the nature of the case for this construc- 
tion; since the laws of figurative language do not de- 
mand it; and since, from such construction, either no 
sense at all results, or one which does not better the 
case — since all these things are true, I hence conclude 
that the term water is construed correctly only when 
taken in its literal and ordinary acceptation. Hence, 
when the Saviour says, "Except a man be born of 
water," he means simply and literally water. 

What, now, is it to be born of water? On this 
question I need not dwell long. To be born of, as 
already conceded, is figurative. Literally, it denotes 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 211 

the event which brings us into natural life; figuratively, 
then, it must denote an event like it. The two events 
must resemble each other as type resembles impres- 
sion, or, if not so exactly, still closely. First, then, 
we have water given ; second, in this a man is buried ; 
third, out of it he emerges. Is not this being born 
of water? If the reason or the eye may be appealed 
to in any case to settle either the meaning of a word, 
or determine the analogy of facts, the question is an- 
swered. This is being born of water. But this is pre- 
cisely what takes place in immersion; hence, I con- 
clude that, to be born of water and be immersed are 
merely two different names — that figurative, this lit- 
eral — for one and the same act. 

A corroborative item or two, and I am done with 
the first part of my subject. Water is never present 
in any act connected with the kingdom of Christ, 
except one. But in that act it is always present, and 
never absent. That act is immersion. But in the ex- 
pression, ''born of water," water is present; hence, 
it must be in immersion, since it can be in nothing else. 
Again, it seems that to be born of water and be im- 
mersed are identical. 

Christ is called the first-born from the dead. This 
is the statement of a fact, and in it occurs the word 
born. The fact is Christ's rising from the dead; 
hence, to arise out of the grave is to be born from 
the dead. But a man is dead to sin, is buried in the 
water, and rises out of it. If, now that rising can be 
called being born from the dead, then is this rising 



212 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

being born of water. If, in argument, analogy be 
worth anything, it is decisive here. 

If the expression, "born of water," does not signify 
immersion, its meaning is not determinate. Then no 
living man can say whether he is in, or not in, the 
kingdom of God. But Christ has not left us in doubt 
on so vital a point; hence, the expression must be de- 
terminate, and signifies immersion. 

I here terminate my examination of the clause "born 
of water." The result is submitted to the candid and 
thoughtful hearer only, but to him with no fear as to 
the end. 

I now proceed to inquire into the meaning of the 
second division of my subject, namely, "Born of the 
Spirit." Important as has been the discussion of the 
preceding division, the discussion of this will be gen- 
erally felt to be still more so, and I by no means wish 
to diminish the just interest which may be felt in it. 

I shall set out with the assumption, new, perhaps, 
to many, that the Saviour, after stating in what the new 
birth consists, then proceeds to explain so much of it 
as is embraced in the clause "born of the Spirit." One 
thing, at least, will be conceded, that what is here em- 
braced was least likely to be understood, and, there- 
fore, stood most in need of explanation. Upon the 
import of the clause "born of water" the great Teacher 
said nothing. Of this Nicodemus needed no expla- 
nation. As soon as he learned from the Saviour that 
he spoke not of a literal re-birth, instantly the meaning 
of the clause would flash into his mind. He would 
intuitively take the term water literally; this done, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 213 

and the meaning of "born of" would be at once per- 
ceived. But not so with the phrase "born of the Spirit." 
Of necessity all would be dark here. Of being born 
of the Spirit, or of being begotten by it, he had no 
means of information. To him the subject was abso- 
lutely new. Not one incident of universal history 
could shed a ray of light on it. In his case, therefore, 
an explanation was especially necessary. Hence the 
assumption that we have one. 

With what is here last said corresponds, as I deem, 
the next verse, namely, "That which is born of the 
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is 
spirit." Hardly can this verse be held to be free from 
difficulty ; not that its difficulty is insuperable, but only 
that it is not free from it. In the expression, "that 
which is born of the flesh is flesh," we have the state- 
ment of a simple well-known matter of fact. In this 
statement every word is to be taken literally; nor can 
any one acquainted with the fact stated misunderstand 
the terms in which it is expressed. Flesh produces 
flesh literally, or the one is the offspring of the other. 
This we know to be so. But the difficulty lies not 
here. It is in the expression "that which is born of 
the Spirit is spirit," or more strictly, perhaps, in the 
parallelism which we draw between the two expres- 
sions. In the expression last cited the word born is 
not to be taken literally; for in regeneration no per- 
sonal spirit is produced; that is, the Holy Spirit does 
not produce the human spirit in the sense in which 
flesh produces flesh. In regeneration the human spirit 
is only changed, not produced. Hence, in the second 



214 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

expression, the word born is not to be taken literally 
but figuratively, as denoting, in general terms, sim- 
ply a change. Now the difficulty, as I conceive, lies 
here : In drawing the parallel we make Spirit stand 
to spirit as flesh stands to flesh, in each case the one 
producing the other. Clearly this is wrong. Cer- 
tainly flesh produces flesh; but Spirit only changes 
spirit. Here there is no product, at least no product 
of substantive spirit. Hence, in the first expression, 
the word born is to be taken literally, but in the sec- 
ond figuratively. This causes, unless carefully no- 
ticed, confusion, and in this we feel the difficulty. 
But how, it may be asked, do I know this, or from 
what do I learn it? I answer, from the very nature 
of the case. In regeneration the human spirit already 
exists; it is, hence, not produced. Consequently the 
difference in the subjects determines a difference in 
the terms. 

But on the supposition that the Saviour is now ex- 
plaining so much of the new birth as relates to the 
Spirit, this is precisely what we should expect Him 
tc say. The word born denotes a change. The Holy 
Spirit is the agent who effects this change. The hu- 
man spirit is the subject in which it takes place. 
That which is born of Spirit — the Holy Spirit — is 
spirit, the human spirit. The Holy Spirit begets 
the human; that is, effects the change which takes 
place in it. The whole process embraces four items, 
indicated in the four following questions: 1. Who 
effects the change? 2. What is changed? 3. How 
is the change effected? 4. In what does it consist 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 



215 



when effected? These four questions exhaust the sub- 
ject. Two of them have now been answered — the 
Holy Spirit effects the change, the human spirit is 
changed. Only two, therefore, remain to be answered. 
Of these the Saviour, in the following verses, answers 
only the third, namely, how is the change effected? 
The fourth is not answered by him in the interview 
with Nicodemus, but is answered elsewhere in the 
New Testament, as will be shown in the course of 
this sermon. 

Here it is proper to determine another point before 
proceeding further. Should we read bom of the 
Spirit, or begotten by it? This depends altogether 
on the view we are taking of the matter in hand. 
If w r e are viewing regeneration as completed, com- 
pleted in both its parts, completed in water, completed 
in spirit, then it is proper to say born of the Spirit; 
otherwise it obviously is not. Whenever the two parts 
of the process are viewed separately, then, clearly, 
we should say begotten by the Spirit, not born. The 
Holy Spirit begets the human, or, more strictly, begets 
a change in it, prepares it for entrance into the king- 
dom of God. In this preparation the Holy Spirit, as 
agent, merely acts on the human spirit, changing it. 
The human spirit is not conceived of as coming out 
of, or proceeding from, the Holy Spirit. Hence be- 
gotten, not born, is the proper word. Again: being 
begotten by the Spirit is the first part of the whole 
process of being born again. It consequently antecedes 
the other part, being born of water, and is hence more 
correctly expressed by begotten than born. Further, 



216 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

as the word born applies to the last act in natural 
generation, so likewise it applies to the last act in 
regeneration. This act, in regeneration, is coming 
out of the water. Hence, to it we should apply born, 
to the other begotten. Accordingly the verse in hand 
would, perhaps, be more correctly rendered. That 
which is begotten by the flesh is flesh, and that which 
is begotten by the Spirit is spirit. This much must be 
correct, more than this might not be; it is hence best 
to say this much, no more. Certainly, in the fifth 
verse, we should render the original by born, thus: 
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Here 
begotten is wholly inadmissible, since we can not be 
begotten by water, but must be born of it. Again, 
it is not by being begotten simply that we enter into 
the kingdom of God ; it is by being born. In the fifth 
verse the word denotes the act which translates us 
into the kingdom. It is hence the act of being born, 
not of being begotten. In the subsequent verses, how- 
ever, where the word occurs, it is best to render it 
begotten. I shall accordingly do so, as already in the 
sixth. 

It will be remembered that we are now speaking 
on the assumption that after the fifth verse, the Saviour 
proceeds to explain how we are begotten by the 
Spirit. With this assumption agrees the seventh 
verse more naturally than with any other. The verse 
reads: "Marvel not that I said to thee, ye must be 
born again." When I am speaking to a man, and 
it is obvious to my eye that he does not understand 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 217 

me, and I say to him: Wonder not that I should 
speak to you thus, for what, most naturally, does my 
remark prepare him? For an illustration or an expla- 
nation? If I have already explained myself, clearly 
it prepares him for an illustration. But if not, then 
an explanation is expected. Now, in the case in hand, 
the Savior had submitted no explanation. Most nat- 
urally, then, it seems, would his remark induce the 
expectation of one. I hence still assume that the fol- 
lowing verse contains one. 

The verse reads thus : "The wind bloweth where 
it listeth, and thou hear est the sound thereof, but canst 
not tell zvhence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is 
every one that is bom of the Spirit/' 

No passage in the New Testament has been so va- 
riously and so inconsistently construed as this. Hardly 
any two men understand it alike. Hence it is cited 
to prove anything or nothing, as may happen to suit 
the tenets of him who uses it. Generally, by the par- 
ties of the day, it is held as containing an illustration 
of the mystery of being begotten by the Spirit. This, 
I conceive to be the radical misconception which has 
utterly obscured the sense of this fine passage. With- 
out one solitary verbal mark, in the original, indica- 
tive of an illustration, or the slightest ground on 
which to conclude that one was ever meant, has the 
verse been assumed to be illustrative, and rendered 
accordingly. A more unaccountable departure from 
some of the best established laws of exegesis than its 
rendering, in some respects, exhibits, I have not met 
with. And long since, I doubt not, would the present 



218 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

rendering have been utterly discarded, had it not con- 
tributed to foster a deep-seated error on the subject 
now in hand. To any one who is bold enough to think 
for himself it is clear that the verse, as it now reads, 
has simply no appreciable meaning whatever. I shall 
hence, with no sort of scruple, use whatever means 
may be at command to free it from darkness. 

First, then, in regard to the word which, in our 
common version, is rendered "wind." This word 
occurs in the Greek New Testament three hundred 
and eighty-six times. In three hundred and eighty- 
four of these it is rendered into English either by the 
term Spirit, or by its equivalent, ghost. Once, in the 
Book of Revelation, it is rendered "life," where, be- 
yond doubt, it should have been rendered "a spirit." 
But in not a single case in the New Testament, except 
the verse in hand, is it rendered "wind." Now, in 
translating, one great rule to be observed is this : To 
translate the same original word uniformly by the 
same equivalent English word, unless the sense for- 
bids it. No translation is deemed good which vio- 
lates this rule, none very faulty which does not. Now, 
since the word in hand, out of three hundred and 
eighty-six instances, is, in three hundred and eighty- 
four of them, uniformly rendered by the word Spirit, 
or by a word of the same meaning, the presumption 
in favor of a similar rendering, in the two remaining 
instances, is as three hundred and eighty-four to two. 
And when it is remembered that the sense does not 
forbid this rendering, this presumption becomes an 
imperious necessity. For these reasons, therefore, I 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 219 

render the original by the word spirit, understanding 
thereby, the Holy Spirit. 

The leading word thus rendered, and the whole 
verse, is literally translated thus : The Spirit breathes 
zvhere it sees fit, and you hear its voice, but know not 
zvhence it comes and where it goes; in this way is 
every one who is begotten by the Spirit. 

On this passage three questions arise, namely: 
What act of the Spirit does the word breathe express ? 
Is it true that we of this day know not whence the 
Spirit comes, and where it goes? And is the sense 
of the last clause of the verse complete? 

1. What act of the Spirit does the word breathe 
express? Be it what it may, one thing is clear, in 
the act something is heard. This word, then, suggests 
a probable answer to the question. Only when the 
Spirit speaks, do we hear it. Speaking, then, is most 
likely the act which the word breathe metaphorically 
expresses. With this, moreover, agrees the word 
voice: The original of this word is a generic term, 
expressing sound generally; but, when applied to per- 
sons, it always 'denotes the voice heard in speaking. 
But, in the present case, it applies to the Holy Spirit, 
a person. Hence, it is legitimate to infer that it de- 
notes the voice of the Spirit heard in speaking. 
But this voice is nevei heard, except through proph- 
ets and apostles. It is only when in man that the 
Spirit speaks to him ; hence, the act is an act of speak- 
ing, and the voice heard, the voice of inspired men. 
Through these men the Spirit speaks, and, speaking 
thus, we hear its voice. 



220 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

2. Is it true of us in the present day that we know 
not whence the Spirit comes, and where it goes, or is 
the clause applicable to us? I reply: The clause is 
not applicable to us of this day, for the reason that, 
in no intelligible sense, can it be said of us that we 
know not the whence and the whither of the Spirit. 
Indisputably it comes from God, and is sent into the 
saints. But this, though true of us, was not true 
of Nicodemus. We have light on the point, which 
he had not. Of him, therefore, the clause was true, 
but not of us. As yet, the Saviour had taught noth- 
ing respecting the Spirit; the apostles had taught 
nothing, and the New Testament was not written. 
That, therefore, was true of Nicodemus at the time, 
which is inapplicable to us, and which ceased to be 
true of him, if he lived, as soon as the Spirit was 
sent. Hence, in construing the verse, we must con- 
strue it as all applicable to him, but as applicable to 
us only with the clause in hand omitted. In one view 
only can the clause be deemed applicable to us of the 
present day. If the Spirit be conceived of as roam- 
ing up and down on the face of the earth, in some 
occult manner unmentioned in the Bible, and unin- 
telligible to man, then may we construe the clause of 
ourselves. In any other view it must be held as ap- 
plying only to Nicodemus, and only when applied to 
him has it any determinate meaning. The view of 
the clause here maintained frees the verse from at 
least half the confusion which lies on it. It is pre- 
sented as necessary, and as barely disputable, and 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 221 

certainly relieves a passage of Scripture of no small 
difficulty. 

3. Is the sense of the last clause of the verse com- 
plete, namely, in this way is every one who is begot- 
ten by the Spirit? That it is not, is intuitively felt 
by every reader. Involuntarily, we ask, in what way? 
The question implies the incompleteness of the sense; 
for, were the sense complete, no impulse would be 
felt to ask the question. Now, in order to render the 
sense full, and to leave no question remaining, we 
have to use, in translating, one word more than is in 
the original. Are we at liberty to do this? Certainly 
it is often done ; but should it be done here ? I believe 
it should, and my reasons for so believing are con- 
cisely these: First, as already said, the sense is in- 
complete without the word. There is, therefore, a 
necessity for it. Indeed, without it the verse is an 
eternal enigma. Second, to supply a word not only 
completes the sense, but gives a sense in strict accord- 
ance with what we know to be elsewhere taught. In 
a doubtful case these two reasons for a particular 
conclusion, with none against it, may be generally 
accepted as decisive. I, hence, decide in favor of the 
word. Supplying it, and the clause reads thus: In 
this way is begotten every one who is begotten by the 
Spirit. 

It will be remembered that, in commencing the in- 
vestigation of the second part of my subject, I as- 
sumed that an explanation of how we are begotten 
by the Spirit was contained in the following verses. 
I am now ready to show that this assumption was 



222 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

well taken. In order to do this, I shall omit the clause 
herein held to be inapplicable to us, merely that I may- 
present, in closer union, the really dependent clauses 
of the verse. Omitting, as here said, and the whole 
verse reads thus: The Spirit breathes where it sees 
iit, and you hear its voice; in this way is begotten every 
one who is begotten by the Spirit? How, then, is a 
person begotten by the Spirit? By hearing its voice. 
Of the truth of this I feel profoundly convinced, 
whether the preceding premises necessitate it or not. 
In confirmation, however, of the conclusion, I cite 
the two following Scriptures: 

1. "Of His (the Father's) own will begat he us 
with the word of truth." But the word of truth is 
what we hear from the Spirit. Now, by this, James 
affirms we. are begotten. The preceding conclusion, 
therefore, is true. That to be begotten by the Father 
and by the Spirit is one and the same begetting, is here 
taken for granted. 

2. "Being begotten again, not of corruptible seed, 
but of incorruptible, by the word of God." Here 
Peter declares, in so many words, that we are begot- 
ten by the word of God. This word is from the 
Spirit, and is what we hear. Hence, by hearing, we 
are begotten again. 

4. But when begotten, in what does the change 
consist ? The following contains the answer : "Every 
one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, has been 
begotten of God" (1 John 5:1). 

From this passage one of two conclusions indis- 
putably results: Either to be begotten of God is to 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 223 

believe, or this includes that, since every believer is 
begotten. It is here held that to be begotten and to 
believe are identical. Hence, when a person is begot- 
ten, the change consists in believing that Jesus is the 
Christ. Here, then, I end the second part of my 
subject. 

Finally, from all the foregoing premises and rea- 
sonings, I conclude that to be "born of water" is sim- 
ply to be immersed ; and to be begotten by the Spirit 
to believe in Jesus Christ. Few conclusions of men 
will ever rest on safer grounds, or be better entitled to 
confidence. 

And now to show, in conclusion, that when Christ 
says, "He that believes and is immersed shall be 
saved," He only asserts, at the close of his earthly 
career, what he had at its commencement asserted to 
Nicodemus in different language, I submit the fol- 
lowing : 

He that believes, and is immersed, is saved, and is, 
therefore, in the kingdom of God. Hence, he that 
believes, and is immersed, is born of water and of 
the Spirit, for, otherwise, he can not enter the king- 
dom of God. The only way to escape "the force of 
this pithy argument is to deny that he who is saved 
is in the kingdom of God. If a man can not be saved, 
and be at the same time out of the kingdom, the argu- 
ment is final. 



A DISCOURSE ON ASSURANCE. 

BY A. WILFORD HALL. 

Dr. A. Wilford Hall was born August 18, 1819, near Bath, 
N. Y. 

Beloved Friends: — We shall read as the basis of 
our discourse the 22d verse of the tenth chapter of 
Paul's Letter to the Hebrews : "Let us draw near with 
a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our 
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies 
washed with pure water." 

Xo one question, perhaps, more deeply interests the 
professed followers of Christ than this : "How can a 
person, in this life, be fully assured that God, for 
Christ's sake, has forgiven his sins?" To the answer 
of this question our present discourse shall be mainly- 
devoted. 

There are three distinct views of this subject enter- 
tained by the different denominations in Christendom, 
one class maintaining that no person can be certain 
of pardon in this life; that if we are forgiven, the 
Almighty, in His wisdom, locks up the fact in the 
secret counsels of His own will, leaving us the subjects 
of doubt and fear so long as we remain on earth. 
Under this view of the subject, no person could, in 
the language of the text, draw near to God "in full 
assurance of faith," their assurance being but partial, 
and not "full." The second class maintains that every 

224 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 225 

pardoned man absolutely knows the fact, that he has 
"full assurance" that God has blotted out his iniquities, 
and that he knows it because he has received a direct 
communication from heaven, attesting the fact by an 
impression made upon his heart, and that he can not 
be mistaken, because he feels his sins forgiven, and, 
therefore, knozvs it. Such men prefer the full as- 
surance of feeling to the "full assurance of faith'' and 
do even ridicule the idea of a man rejoicing in the 
full assurance of pardon, with no other basis for his 
assurance than "faith which comes by hearing and 
hearing by the word of God." 

The third class maintains what we are about to 
prove, namely, that unfeigned faith in the word of 
God and obedience to the stipulated conditions of par- 
don are all-sufficient to give a man full assurance that 
he is pardoned, justified and saved, independent of any 
other witness, directly from heaven or from any other 
source. Nay, we affirm still more — that from the 
simple testimony of the living oracles we may posi- 
tively know our sins forgiven, and this is all the sec- 
ond class referred to claims to be necessary. They tell 
us that, according to our theory of assurance, a man 
can have nothing but bare belief, and can, therefore, 
never know his sins forgiven, and consequently can 
never, in this life, at least, enjoy the full consolation 
of those who have the witness of the Spirit upon their 
souls, by which they know their sins forgiven. Neither 
will they hesitate to grant, if it is possible for a man 
to know his sins pardoned by simple belief in testi- 
mony, that this is all we need; for what can we ask 



226 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

more than to know the fact? With the permission 
of this attentive audience, we shall endeavor to show 
that to believe a thing with all the heart is to know it 
— not physically, but morally. 

For the sake of illustrating these two kinds of 
knowledge, moral and physical, we would introduce 
a case or two. For instance, we know there is such a 
city as New Orleans, morally, but we do not know it 
physically, from the fact that we never saw it. We 
know, physically, that there is such a city as Cincin- 
nati, because we have seen it, and do not, therefore, 
as in the other case, depend exclusively upon the tes- 
timony of others. This is a fair distinction between 
moral and physical knowledge. We know, morally, 
that which we learn from the testimony of others; but 
we know, physically, anything we learn through the 
direct evidence of one or more of our five senses. Yet, 
notwithstanding the distinction here made, we are as 
certain of what we know morally as physically. Take, 
for example, the case to which we have just alluded. 
I am just as sure that there is a city called New Or- 
leans, as that there is one called Cincinnati. Let each 
one of the audience now test the matter for himself. 
Are there not towns or cities which you have never 
seen, that you are just as sure exist as you are of the 
existence of your county seat, which you visit, per- 
chance, every month? 

But you ask me to prove, first, that what I learn 
solely from the testimony of others, independent of 
the direct testimony of any of my senses, is knowledge 
in any sense whatever; and not to take for granted 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 227 

the very point upon which the whole controversy turns. 
This, we are gratified to inform you, we are prepared 
to do. And perhaps this is as suitable a place to in- 
troduce the testimony as any other. First, then, we 
shall appeal to the apostle Peter. "Therefore, let all 
the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath 
made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both 
Lord and Christ" (Acts 2 : 36). We ask, in what way 
did the Jews know that Jesus had been coronated at 
the right hand of God? They certainly did not see, 
hear, nor feel Him. We answer, then, confidently, 
that they knew it in no other way, and by no other 
means, than by the oral testimony of the apostles on 
that occasion. Hence, they knew it, morally. They 
knew, physically, that the apostle Peter stood before 
them, for they saw and heard him ; but as they had the 
direct evidence of none of their senses attesting the 
fact of Christ's coronation, they could have known it 
only in a moral sense, which is equivalent to believing 
it with all the heart. 

We shall next hear the apostle Paul. "We know 
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- 
solved, we have a building of God, an house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II. Cor. 5:1). 
Did the brethren at Corinth know, physically, by the 
direct evidence of their senses, that they had a build- 
ing of God in heaven? They certainly had not been 
there to see it. The fact is, they knew it, morally, by 
the testimony of the Lord, through His apostles; or, 
in other words, they believed this doctrine with all 
their hearts, which amounts to the same thing. 



228 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

Our third witness shall be the apostle John. "We 
know that when he appears we shall be like him, for 
we shall see him as he is" (I. John 3:3). This 
could only have been known by the teaching of the 
apostles, who spake under the influence of the pro- 
phetic Spirit, and not by the direct evidence of any of 
our senses, and hence is moral, and not physical, knowl- 
edge. Upon these testimonies — which are but a small 
specimen of what could be adduced — we rest the proof 
of this part of the subject. 

The Lord, in His wisdom, saw fit to base Christian- 
ity, as connected with the happiness of man, upon the 
loftiest and most dignified principle of our nature ; and 
as the things for which we hope are spiritual, and not 
merely animal, hence He saw proper to base our as- 
surance upon the principle of faith, or moral knowl- 
edge, which the mere animal can not possess. Those 
who refer to their feelings, which are but the legiti- 
mate offspring of animal excitement, as proof of their 
acceptance with God, and the pardon of sin, put them- 
selves down to a level with the beast that perisheth, 
by basing their assurance upon "what they know natu- 
rally (or physically) as brute beasts" (Jude 10), and 
thus discard in toto the principle of faith as the basis 
of the Christian hope. The apostle says, "We walk 
by faith, and not by sight" (II. Cor. 5:7); or, as 
John Wesley observes, "not by sense, sight being put 
for all the senses." This is correct. Hence, when a 
person says, "I know my sins are forgiven, because I 
feel it," it is evident that his religion is all animal, 
based upon a principle common to all the animal tribes. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 229 

But you ask, "Is it not the design of Christianity to 
make men feel well?" I answer yes; but their good 
feeling must be the result of their assurance of pardon, 
and not their assurance the result of their good feel- 
ing. The popular theology of the age, to use a home- 
made remark, has got the cart before the horse. Ask 
that enthusiastic person who has just "got through" 
why he feels so well, and he will answer in an ecstasy 
of joy, "Because I know my sins are all forgiven." 
But ask him him how he knows his sins are forgiven, 
and he will reply, "Because I feel so well !" Thus he 
feels well because he knows he is forgiven, and knows 
he is forgiven because he feels well ! 

This kind of circular logic is something like the 
Catholic priest who, when assailed by a Protestant, 
proved the infallibility of the Catholic Church by the 
Bible, and, when attacked by the skeptic, proved the 
Bible to be true by the infallibility of the church. This 
thing of making our feelings the proof of our conver- 
sation, and our conversation at the same time the cause 
of our good feelings, is what Paul calls "measuring 
themselves by themselves" (II. Cor. 10: 12), and adds 
that such individuals "are not wise." We think the 
same. But ask a wise man, an enlightened convert to 
Christianity, why he is so happy, and why he appears 
to be so overwhelmed with joy, and he will answer, 
"Because God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven my 
sins." But how do you know your sins are forgiven? 
"Because God hath sworn by two immutable things, 
in which it is impossible for him to lie, that we might 
have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay 



230 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

hold on the hope set before us." (Heb. 6: 18.) He 
would tell you that he has "full assurance of faith, 
having his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and 
his body washed with pure water," and that he knew, 
morally, as certain as that there is a God, or that Christ 
died for our sins, that he was justified, pardoned and 
saved, because God had pledged His immutable oath, 
and he, having fulfilled the conditions on his part, 
God did not, because he could not, forfeit His word. 
But how about your good feelings? I enjoy them as 
the result of my faith, which gives me the "full as- 
surance" of my acceptance. The historian informs 
us, the jailer, after having his "body washed with pure 
water," "rejoiced (how?), believing in God." (Acts 
16:34.) And the apostle Peter says, "believing, we 
rejoice with joy unspeakable." (I. Pet. 1:8.) Now, 
if '703; unspeakable" be the result of simply "believ- 
ing," as the inspired apostle here testifies, what more 
is necessary, and what more could be desired, even by 
those who maintain feeling as the ground of their as- 
surance? But to show conclusively that Christianity 
recognizes no other principle, as the basis of our as- 
surance and consolation, than faith, we quote the 
apostle Paul. "Now the God of hope fill you with all 
joy and peace in believing." ( Rom. 15 : 13.) What 
is there left for any other principle to effect ? But you 
ask, why are all our consolation, joy, peace and as- 
surance of pardon the result of faith? Because the 
zvord which we believe contains the unspeakable prom- 
ise of pardon, which we enjoy, through a compliance 
with its stipulated terms. This word — so far from 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 231 

being a dead letter, as many teach — is "quick and pow- 
erful" "living and abiding forever." The Saviour 
says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that your 
joy might be full." . (John 15 : 11.) 

True, you say, the word, when spoken by the 
Saviour, could produce full joy; but can this be said of 
the word when written ? John answers, "These things 
write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (I. 
John 1:4.) But you ask if the apostle had the same 
words to write that the Saviour spoke ? Let the Saviour 
answer in His prayer. "I have given them the zcords 
which thou hast given me, and they have received 
them and have known surely that I came out from 
thee." (John 17:8.) Thus, we have another reason 
why we can derive all joy and peace from believing 
the word, from the fact that if the apostles could 
"know surely" that Christ was the Messiah by the evi- 
dence of His words, we may certainly know from the 
same words that our sins have been forgiven. But 
you say, true, the word, when spoken by the Saviour, 
might have that influence, but not when written; for 
then it becomes a dead letter ; and, certain it is, that we 
can know nothing from the testimony of that which 
has no life. But let us see. "These things have I 
written unto you * * * that ye may know that ye 
have eternal life." (I. John 5: 13.) Why write to 
them that they might know it, if they could know it 
in any other way? But you say, true, we may know 
a thing by written testimony to some extent ; but can 
we know the certainty of a thing through that me- 
dium? Luke answers, "Forasmuch as many have 



232 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of 
those things which are most surely believed among us, 
it seemed good to me also, having had perfect under- 
standing of all things from the very first, to write 
unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that 
thou might est know the certainty of those things." 
(Luke 1:1-4.) Ah, then, we can positively "know 
the certainty" of a thing just by written testimony; 
and this is all we want in order to be fully assured 
of any fact, even the pardon of sin. 

But then, says one, I want some better testimony 
than the mere word, to prove that my sins^are for- 
given. I wonder how those preachers, who talk in 
this way, would like it, should they state a fact to 
which they were an eye and ear witness, and I say 
to them: Gentlemen, I want some better testimony 
than your mere word that what you state is true! I 
should be turned out of the synagogue, sure as fate, 
did I speak of their word as they do of the word of 
the Almighty ! Yet they pretend to believe the Bible ! 
The truth is, however, that men who will speak thus 
of the living oracles, do not believe with all the heart 
that the Bible is a revelation from God. Nay, I as- 
sert still further, that any man, pretending to be a 
Christian, who can ask or even desire any other wit- 
ness to prove his sins forgiven than the word of the 
Lord, is a skeptic at heart, and at the same time 
strongly tinctured with hypocrisy, for pretending to 
believe what in his very heart he is not willing to credit ! 
When men call upon God to send down the Holy 
Spirit to bear witness to their hearts that they are born 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 233 

of God, methinks that if the Almighty should reply, 
He would give them a similar answer to that which 
Abraham gave the rich man. You have Christ and 
the apostles, and you would do well to give heed to 
their testimony; for if you will not believe what they 
have taught, you would not be persuaded, though one 
arose from the dead ; neither would you believe, though 
the Spirit should descend again from heaven in bodily 
shape and teach the way of the Lord; for even then he 
could not teach more than all the truth; and this he 
taught through the apostles. "He shall guide you 
into all truth" says the Saviour; and as what He then 
taught, and left upon record in the New Testament, 
is just as true now as it was then, consequently just 
as much to be believed, it follows, as certain as that 
like causes produce like effects, if you will not believe 
what He has already taught, you would not believe 
Him should He come down from heaven again and 
teach the same thing. Where, then, the propriety of 
offering up to the Father of lights such an unreason- 
able and skeptical prayer? It is the same in effect 
as saying, "Almighty Father, it is true, Thou hast in- 
formed us in Thy word, if we will comply with the 
terms of reconciliation, which are there distinctly laid 
down, that our sins and iniquities shall be remembered 
no more. We have complied with these terms, but we 
want some better evidence than Thy bare word to prove 
that we are pardoned. Therefore, O Lord, send down 
Thy Spirit into our skeptical souls, and make us to 
know our sins forgiven ; for Thy written word, which 
Thou hast already spoken to the children of men, we 



234 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

do not believe, and therefore we ask Thee, O Lord, 
in great mercy, to overlook our infidelity, and send us 
better testimony." Wonder what such men would 
have said, had they been in the place of the man sick 
of palsy, when Christ addressed him, "Son, be of good 
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee" . (Matt. 9:2.) They 
doubtless would have replied, "Lord, we know Thou 
hast power to forgive sins, but still we want some 
better testimony than Thy bare word!" When the 
Saviour commanded this same individual to take up 
his bed and walk, how did he know that he was "im- 
mediately made whole"? Answer: By his feelings, 
because this was a physical and not a moral effect, and 
hence could be known only by physical testimony. But 
in the other case there was no physical effect produced ; 
it was wholly moral, and hence could be known only 
by moral testimony. 

I have often heard a certain class of preachers use 
an argument something like this, to prove that a man 
can know his sins forgiven by his feelings : "If I had 
a pain in my head, and would assert the fact to this 
audience, they are bound to believe me, because my 
word stands unimpeached. But you ask how I know 
I have a pain in my head? I answer, by my feelings. 
Is not this satisfactory evidence? Very well; if you 
would believe my word in this, let us try another case. 
I assert that my sins are forgiven. You ask how I 
know ? I answer, by my feelings. You are bound to 
receive my testimony in this, for it is just as good 
authority as in the other case." 

This one argument embodies nine-tenths of all the 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 235 

sophistry and mysticism of this perverted age, relative 
to conversion and the evidence of pardon ; and let this 
one sophism be fairly analyzed and set aside, and the 
system of modern revivalism has lost its only prop. 
Let this be distinctly borne in mind. We now state, 
what we have before intimated, that things of a phys- 
ical nature we know only by physical means. For 
example : When we are sick, we know it by our feel- 
ings. When thirsty, hungry, sleepy, cold, or warm, 
we know it by our feelings, from the bare fact that the 
proposition to be proved in each of these cases is phys- 
ical, and hence the proof must be of the same kind; 
or, in other words, the proposition and proof in all 
cases must be homogeneous. Now, it is impossible, in 
the very nature of the case, to prove a physical propo- 
sition by moral testimony, and vice versa. Take a 
case, for example : You wish to prove to me that my 
head aches. Now, what effect will moral testimony 
have upon my mind? Just none at all. You might 
bring forward twelve of the best men in this place, 
whose word has never been disputed, and should they 
all testify under the' most solemn oath that I had a 
pain in my head, if I did not feel it, their testimony 
would not have the least tendency to convince me of 
the fact. All the moral testimony on earth would not 
be sufficient to prove this one physical fact, so long as 
there was the testimony of one physical witness against 
it. But let one of those witnesses take that staff and 
give me a physical argument by way of a pretty severe 
blow on the head, and such evidence would have a 



236 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES, 

tendency to produce conviction in my mind that I had 
the headache. 

But again: My father, who lives in a distant part 
of the State, has just deceased, leaving me an estate 
of ten thousand dollars; but I know nothing about it. 
A messenger has arrived to let me know the fact. Now 
this, to me, is a moral proposition, though to him it is 
physical, as he saw the old man breathe his last, and 
had the privilege of reading his will. But how is he 
to convince me that these are facts ? Can he do so by 
any physical operation he may perform upon me ? Let 
him strike me, drag me from the stand, throw me out 
of doors, or do what he will to me, and has he con- 
vinced me of that fact under consideration? By no 
means. I am just as ignorant of the matter as I was 
before. Remember, that to me it is a moral propo- 
sition, and can consequently be sustained only by moral 
testimony. Nothing that could be applied to any of 
my senses, unless it speaks either by words or signs 
to my understanding, would give me the most distant 
idea of the subject. Hence he must either speak or 
write it, in order to give me the desired information. 

The great mistake upon this subject is in supposing 
that sin is a material of some kind, clinging to the 
vitals of the sinner, and that forgiveness consists in 
some kind of an internal physical renovation. At 
least, the way the subject is presented to the public, 
according to the popular doctrines of the day, we- 
would necessarily be led to think that such was the 
fact. But let it be distinctly understood that sin is a 
moral evil, and forgiveness in no case consists in an 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 237 

internal operation so far as the sinner is concerned, 
but is in every case a mental operation of the individual 
who forgives. For instance : The convict upon the 
gallows is about to swing. The governor, as an em- 
bodiment of the will of the people, resolves to forgive 
him, and does so. But does the poor convict, just 
then, feel an internal operation. Nay, verily, he still 
stands trembling upon the threshold of death, expect- 
ing in a few minutes to drop into eternity. Forgive- 
ness, then, does not take place in the sinner, or else 
this poor, trembling convict would have known it. 
But a messenger is instantly dispatched to the gallows. 
The sheriff, with the proper authority in his hand, in- 
forms the convict that he is a pardoned man. Joy now 
lights up his countenance, and just in proportion to the 
strength of his faith in the testimony presented, will be 
his joyful feelings as the result of pardon. But you ask, 
was there not an important change which took place 
in the bosom of that convict ? Certainly there was ; but 
this change was not the act of forgiveness — for that 
took place in the mind of the governor some time be- 
fore the convict knew it — but the change was effected 
by the evidence which the convict received from the 
governor's hand that he was pardoned. So the sinner 
is pardoned, not in his own bosom, but in the court of 
heaven, in the mind of Jehovah; and the evidence he 
has of this fact in the word of God gives him "full 
assurance of faith," and "believing, he rejoices with 
joy unspeakable and full of glory." He does not, how- 
ever, have to wait, as in the similitude, after he is par- 
doned, for a witness to come down from the court of 



238 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

heaven to notify him of the fact; for the very law 
which lays down the terms of pardon to rebel man, 
also contains the promise of forgiveness as soon as the 
sinner complies. Neither are these stipulations with- 
out the proper marks of authority. The Almighty, it 
appears, as if to forestall every objection and obviate 
every difficult}', that there might be no necessity to 
look for ''better testimony," has attached to these con- 
ditions of pardon the adorable signatures of the Father, 
Son and Holy Spirit. Is this all? Nay; underneath 
we behold the great red seal of the blood of Christ, 
and, as if to confirm and ratify the whole, Jehovah 
Himself stoops from His majestic throne, and records 
a most solemn oath, by two immutable things, in which 
it is impossible for Him to lie, that the promise of 
pardon to the man who complied with the conditions 
thereof might be just as immutable as Himself. 

"If thy brother trespass against thee, forgive him/' 
This is a positive command of our Saviour. Well, a 
brother has trespassed upon my rights. I tell him his 
fault between me and him alone. He repents, and 
asks my forgiveness. I say to him, Brother, in the 
name of the Lord, I most freely forgive you. He is, 
then, of course, forgiven. But how does he know it? 
Answer: By my word, and by it alone. Now, says 
the apostle, "As Christ forgave you, so also do ye." 
Can we not, then, by the "bare word" of Christ, know 
our sins forgiven, if we can rest satisfied of the same 
thing upon the testimony of a mere man? Yes; for, 
says the apostle John, "If we receive the witness of 
men, the witness of God is greater." (I. John 5:9.) 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 239 

But suppose, after I have pledged my word to my 
brother that he is forgiven, he puts his hand on his 
breast and says, with a deep sigh, "I feel such a strange 
load about my heart ; I fear I am not forgiven !" Would 
not this be prima facie evidence that he had no con- 
fidence in my word? And how must the Almighty 
look down from heaven upon professed Christians, 
and even ministers, who treat His word in the same 
way? 

How common it is to hear men preach that the 
words of Satan, whispered into the ear of our Mother 
Eve, possessed power enough to ruin mankind, and at 
the same time will deny that the words of Christ con- 
tain power enough to save them! Strange, indeed, 
that the devil has more power than the Almighty! 
Others affirm that the "gospel is the power of God 
unto salvation/' and yet will act just as inconsistently 
as the other class, by contending that, notwithstanding 
the gospel has power enough to save men, yet, after 
this is done, it has not sufficient power to give them 
the full assurance that they are saved ! They need an- 
other witness directly from heaven before this fact 
can be established ! 

But the worst evil attending this system of modern 
revivalism — or that system which makes feeling the 
test of pardon and acceptance with God, instead of 
faith in the written Word — is the unstable and unset- 
tled condition of its converts. Those who have feel- 
ing as the basis of their religion are fluctuating as the 
tide. While their feelings are excited by a protracted 
meeting, their hopes are bright. But when the im- 



240 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

mediate excitement of the meeting dies away, and 
they are at home combating with the cares and per- 
plexities of life, their good feelings begin to subside 
and their religion begins to go down with them. This 
is natural; for good feelings being the foundation of 
their assurance, as soon as the foundation gives way, 
the whole superstructure reared thereon must fall. 
Hence, when this dark and gloomy state of feeling 
begins to come on, and the very basis of their assur- 
ance of pardon begins to give way, it is natural for 
them to entertain many doubts and fearful forebod- 
ings as regards the genuineness of their conversion. 
Then, it is, you will hear them begin to sing the 
words most appropriate to their desponding state of 
mind — 

"Dear Lord, if indeed I am thine, 

If thou art my sun and my song, 
Say, why do I languish and pine, 

And why are my winters so long? 
Oh, drive these dark clouds from my sky; 

Thy soul-cheering presence restore; 
Lord, take me to thee up on high, 

Where winters and clouds are no more." 

But why these "dark clouds" and "long winters"? 
Because good feeling, which was the only assurance 
they had that their sins were pardoned, has left them, 
and they now look upon themselves as deceived; and 
many, by this natural tendency of that system of things, 
are led to abandon and curse all religion as a scheme 
of sheer deception and priestcraft. 

Others having, perhaps, a larger organ of venera- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 241 

tion, are not willing to give it up yet, notwithstand- 
ing their assurance of acceptance with God has all 
left them, and accordingly, they attend the first pro- 
tracted meeting in the neighborhood, and by the 
means of great animal excitement, succeed in "getting 
through" a second time. They now declare that their 
sins are all blotted out, and that they never knew what 
religion was before. This is acknowledging that they 
actually were deceived the first time; for they thought 
they were converted when they were not. And how 
do they know that they may not be deceived this 
time also? for their religion this time came in pre- 
cisely the same way that it did the other. 

But the meeting passes off and the excitement 
again dies away, and in a few weeks you hear those 
doubly-converted Christians, with their heads bowed 
down like a bullrush, singing that same old, gloomy, 
dark, cold, cloudy, wintry, skeptical song, "Dear Lord, 
if indeed I am thine." 

Not so, however, with the man whose trust is in 
God and the word of His grace. He has deliberately 
and understanding^ bowed to the terms of par- 
don, as taught by the inspired ambassadors of Christ, 
and can now claim the pardon of sins and adoption 
into the family of God, by the highest authority in 
heaven and earth. He defies all creation to dispute 
his claim; for he appeals for proof to the infallibility 
of the Spirit, the veracity of Christ, and the immuta- 
bility of God. How sure, then, is the foundation 
upon which we build. It is a terra Urnia which will 
stand the fiery ordeal when the earth shall reel to and 



242 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

fro, the elements melt with fervent heat, and the 
heavens shall flee away and be no more. Truly does 
the poet remark — 

"How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, 
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word." 

I rejoice for such a high rock, and for such a strong 
tower, in which to hide securely from the lashing of 
the billows and peltings of the storms of life. In the 
midst of all the conflicts and vicissitudes that flesh 
is heir to, this hope stands by us and bears up our 
sinking spirits ; and though the mildewing hand of 
poverty should lie heavily upon us, and the scourge 
of sickness invade this trembling house of clay, yet 
"the Scriptures assure us that the Lord will provide." 
With this "full assurance of faith" in the Word of 
the immutable promise, no fear shall find a dwelling 
place within this bosom; and though Satan should 
bring down upon us the fury of the storm, and hurl 
thickly about us the arrows of death, yet the God of 
Jacob "will never leave us nor forsake us." And 
when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, 
and the earth be renovated by fire, this confidence in 
the all-sufficiency of the Word of the immutable God 
will bear us up far above the melting elements, to 
stand with our immortalized and glorified persons — 

"Where bliss is known without alloy, 
And beauty blooms without decay; 
Where thoughts of grief, in cloudless joy, 
Shall melt like morning mist away." 

Amen and Amen. 



THE LOVE OF GOD. 
By William Baxter. 

Wm. Baxter was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, July 6, 
1820. Came to America in 1828. Died at New Lisbon, O., 1880. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life" (John 3: 16). 

Never were words more deeply fraught with mean- 
ing than those which the Saviour uttered in the hear- 
ing of the learned rabbi of Israel, words of deep import 
to you, to me, to the whole family of man. They make 
known the most benign attribute of the divine Father ; 
present before us its loftiest exhibition and declare to 
dying men its blissful result. That tribute is the love 
of God ; the exhibition of it, the death of his Son ; the 
result, the eternal salvation of all those who, by holy 
obedience, manifest their trust in the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world. 

The angels who beheld the marvels of creative 
power when God called our world into being, saw not, 
until the fourth day, the regal sun, the queenly moon, 
the starry host. Nor did hoary patriarch, mitred priest 
or inspired prophet ever behold such glories as met 
the gaze of the fishermen of Galilee when Jesus ap- 
peared to them on the holy mount, as he appears to 
the immortals now. For four thousand years God had 

243 



244 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

been giving the world proofs of his love; but how 
deep, how tender, how exhaustless that love the world 
never knew until the Saviour's words to Nicodemus 
were fulfilled. 

In contemplating the love and compassion of God, 
there is danger of a trust and confidence that borders 
upon presumption; while too great attention to the 
severe attributes — such as justice and holiness — may- 
lead to doubt, and even despair. Viewed in connec- 
tion, the beauty and harmony of the whole is to be 
seen. As in the deluge, while there is anger and 
justice, so there is an ark, a dove, and olive 
leaf, the smoke of sacrifice ascending, and, over all, 
the rainbow hues of love and peace ; the fierce, surging 
waters, like the frown of God — the rainbow, like his 
smile of love. 

Thus, we may contemplate the power of God as dis- 
played in creating and sustaining this vast universe; 
behold it in the fierce tornado and the wild commotion 
of the ocean storm ; see it reflected in the glare of the 
forked lightning, as it darts across the darkened 
heavens ; hear it proclaimed by the muttering thunder, 
as if he were speaking in tones of wrath to a guilty 
world; and we shall find there is nothing in all this 
calculated to awaken any other feeling save that* of 
terror and trembling awe. 

When we remember that God fills all things — that 
he is everywhere present — that thought is calculated 
to arouse our fears, and rivet upon our minds the con- 
viction that we can not go where he is not ; we feel 
that God is above, beneath, around us; with us in 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 245 

the crowded city and the solitary desert ; in the pursuit 
of pleasure, and the hurry of business ; in the bustle of 
noonday and the silence of midnight; in the hall of 
revelry and the temple devoted to his service; with us 
at home and abroad, in and around our daily paths; 
and, with the minstrel king, we are led to exclaim, 
"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall 
I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend into the heavens, 
thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, thou art 
there. If I take the wings of the morning, and 
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy 
hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." 
And the boldest will tremble when he remembers that 
he is in the presence of the Ever-present One. 

If we remember that God knows all things, from 
the thoughts of the loftiest intelligence that burns 
near his throne to the instinct of the most insignificant 
creature that he has made ; that he looks on us not as 
man looks, but his piercing eye sees through all our 
disguises and concealments, penetrates the flimsy veil 
of hypocrisy, discerns the very thought and intents of 
the heart, we quail before the searching glance of the 
all-seeing One, to whom the secrets of all hearts are 
known, and who will disclose them before the as- 
sembled universe, for our approval or condemnation, 
in the judgment of the great day. 

We call to mind the declaration of Holy Writ, that 
justice and judgment are the habitation of Jehovah's 
throne, and his righteous laws, which we have so 
often broken, rise up and condemn us. A fearful day 
of retribution in the future threatens, and our guilty 



246 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

souls find no refuge, no hiding-place in the storm from 
the justice of God. 

We turn to his holiness, the stainless purity of his 
character; we look at the defilement which sin has 
brought upon us ; we feel that, like the leper, we should 
place our hands upon our mouths and cry, "Unclean! 
unclean!" His purity, contrasted with our sin, his 
holiness with the corruption which we feel in our own 
nature, leaves us no foundation for hope in the holiness 
of God. Had God manifested no other attributes of 
his nature than these, the condition of man would 
have been hapless in the extreme; hope would have 
long since died in the human heart, and our race would 
have toiled on in despair, from the cradle to the grave ; 
but it is recorded on the sacred page that "God is 
love," that "God so loved the world," and these glad 
words drive away all our fears ; they bid us draw near 
with filial confidence, and from full hearts cry, "Father ! 
Father t" 

As the loveliest and sublimest objects in nature, under 
certain circumstances, rather alarm than "delight us, 
so some of the attributes of God, contemplated singly, 
fill the soul with dread; but, when viewed in relation 
to each other, they glow in the hues of loveliness alone. 
Thus, if we wander at nightfall in the depths of the 
forest, there is naught around us to give delight; the 
night wind sweeps through the overspreading branches 
like a wail of woe, and strange shapes are dimly seen 
through the gloom; a horror of great darkness fills 
the mind with vague and undefined terror, and we long 
to escape from the fearful place. But, lo! the moon 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 247 

rises in queenly splendor, and pours her mild radiance 
over the scene; the dew-drops glisten upon the leaves 
like diamonds set in emeralds, the wind's sad sigh now 
becomes a lofty hymn, and the scene, late so desolate 
and drear, as if by enchantment, is changed to one of 
surpassing loveliness. How awful, in the midnight 
.gloom, is the thunder of Niagara ! How awe-inspiring 
the fierce rush of its fearful leap into the gulf 
below ! The soul is hushed in its solemn presence, 
while fancy shapes its rising mists into unearthly 
forms. But day comes on apace, and all its terrors 
depart; like pure crystal seems the torrent now; 
the sunbeams irradiate the falling spray, and the 
late dreadful cataract wears a rainbow, like a crown of 
glory, on its brow. And thus it is, when the heart is 
depressed by the thought that God is all-seeing, ever- 
present, holy, just and true; then the thought comes 
that he is full of compassion and tender love, and, like 
the moonbeams to the darkened forest, or the sweet 
sunlight to the cataract, so is the light of love to those 
attributes that once inspired terror alone. The power 
of the Almighty, under the guidance of love, will be 
exerted for the protection of the object of that 
love; his presence, which made us tremble, will 
become, of all things, the most desirable; his uni- 
versal knowledge will make him acquainted with all 
our wants and all our woes ; holiness will grow bright- 
er in the light of love; the severity of justice will be 
softened; for in the great exhibition of love which 
God has made in the death of his Son, justice and 



248 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

mercy truly have met, righteousness and peace have 
embraced each other. 

God has ever loved our race. From the time that 
his mandate called our first parent from the dust, his 
kind care and tender love have been extended over us. 
The sentence of exile from Eden had scarcely been 
pronounced when God made known his love to man by 
giving the gracious promise, that one born of woman, 
like a mighty conqueror, should bruise the head of the 
arch enemy and win for man a brighter Eden than 
Adam lost. God manifested his love by permitting 
man to approach him through the medium of sacrifice ; 
by his speaking, through angels, to Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob; by the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic 
institution; by sending prophet after prophet, and 
teacher after teacher, to instruct our race and draw it 
back to himself. But all these exhibitions of love failed 
to recall lost man from his wanderings. He treated his 
messengers with scorn, and, by his perversity, forfeited 
all claim to his merciful forbearance ; yet God forsook 
him not, but gave him the strongest possible proof of 
his love, to win him from sin and sorrow to happiness, 
to holiness, and heaven. Love consists not in word, but 
in deed. Men prove their love by their actions, as did 
the Roman Decias, who, in order to secure victory on 
the side of his country, in accordance with the pre- 
diction uttered by the oracle, drew his robe around him, 
and, rushing into the thickest ranks of the opposing 
host, yielded himself a willing victim, that Rome might 
be free; or, as Winkelried, who gladly threw himself 
on the Austrian spears to open the way for liberty to 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 249 

Switzerland; or, as Leonidas, who, with the noble 
three hundred, met the rushing myriads of the 
Persian despot, and bravely died, that Greece 
might not wear the yoke. Thus God, stooping to the 
usages of men, to prove his love for our race, gave 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

But let us examine the meaning of the saying, "-Gave 
his Son." Does it mean that God sent his Son as an 
ambassador, attended by shining legions of angels, to 
treat with our revolted race, and bring them back to 
their allegiance? No; he came in lowly guise; no 
stately palace received him; no princely couch sus- 
tained his infant head ! no national rejoicing hailed his 
birth ; an obscure village is the place where the Son of 
the Highest makes his appearance; and he is cradled 
where the horned oxen fed. 

But was the obscurity of his birth and the coldness 
of his reception, the privations and dangers of his in- 
fantile years, all that was meant by God giving his 
Son? Ah, no; for, though when he first appeared 
among men he stooped from heaven to earth, this vast 
descent came far short of exhausting its meaning, and 
we must seek it in his future history. 

Behold him, in the desert, undergoing fierce trial. 
The adversary of our race assails him on every point, 
while demons and angels look with deep anxiety for 
the issue of this superhuman conflict. He triumphs, but 
it is only to encounter new trials ; for, though he were 
maker of all things, yet did he suffer need, and, on one 
occasion, we hear the homeless wanderer exclaim : 



250 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have 
nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his 
head." Contrast his friendless destitution with the 
glory he had laid aside, on our behalf, and then ask, 
Is not this a wonderful display of our Father's love? 

But let us follow his eventful life, through priestly 
hate and pharisaic invective — a life stigmatized as evil, 
though spent in doing good — to that scene of sorrow 
which transpired in Gethsemane Garden on the night 
of his dark betrayal. He had just eaten the last sup- 
per with the twelve; he had seen Judas depart; and 
well did he know the foul purpose which rilled his 
traitorous bosom. The echoes of the hymn which 
closed the feast had died away, and, with his disciples, 
he sought the retirement of the garden, whose calm 
solitude had often invited to solemn contemplation and 
earnest prayer. 

"Tarry ye here, while I go and pray yonder," he 
says, and soon he is alone. The work he came to per- 
form is nearly accomplished, but, as the closing scene 
draws near, his nature seems to shrink from the dread 
encounter ; deep sorrow, like a mountain weight, press- 
es on his heart, and his soul becomes exceedingly sor- 
rowful, even unto death. He prostrates himself on the 
cold, damp earth, and, in the most touching tones, he 
makes his petition to the Father. He pours out his 
soul to God in strong cries and tears, but no other de- 
liverer can be found, and he treads the wine-press 
alone. 

He rises and seeks his disciples ; but they had forgot- 
ten their sorrows in sleep. He leaves them, and again 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 251 

prays in anguish of spirit. He even asks the third 
time, and, while prostrate in the dreadful agony of that 
fearful hour — such was the burden of our guilt, so 
intense the pain and mental agony which he endured, 
that his sweat was as great drops of blood falling down 
to the ground — and the meek sufferer, in that hour of 
mortal anguish, cries : "Father, if it be possible, let this 
cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine, 
be done." 

We now begin to perceive the meaning of the words, 
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son," as we gaze on the sorrowful scene which trans- 
pired near the hour of midnight in that garden's shade. 
Oh! it was a frightful and a gloomy hour. Angels, 
doubtless, were near, weeping, too, if angels ever wept, 
and gazing with intense interest upon the sight, and 
wondering when this scene of sorrow, this scene of 
love, would end. Demons, too, looked on with scowl- 
ing hate, or rejoiced in the apparent defeat of the 
great Champion of our race; while man, alon: of all 
created intelligences, for whom, too, all this was trans- 
piring, was unobservant and unmoved. It might be 
thought that the scene might, with propriety, close 
here; that a sufficient proof of the love of God had 
been given; that it was enough that his Son had de- 
scended to earth in humility; that he had dwelt amid 
scenes of sorrow and privation; that, under the load 
of our guilt, while we had no tears for our own crimes, 
they had caused the bloody drops of agony to fall from 
the body of God's beloved Son. But, no; God has 
another exhibition of love, than which himself could 



252 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

give no greater. Without the shedding of blood, 
there could be no remission. Man must die, or the Son 
of the Hightest must bleed. God gives the just for 
the unjust, and the spotless Lamb of God is slain 
for us. 

We now come to the grand climax of the love of 
our heavenly Father, in which all the rich fullness of 
his affection is displayed ; and, if man be not convinced 
of his love by this crowning act, he must forever re- 
main in utter and hopeless skepticism. This is heaven's 
last argument; for, when God gives his Son to die, 
there is no greater gift in the treasury of the skies to 
demonstrate his great, his exceeding love to man. 

It is a solemn, and often a fearful thing, to die. 
There is something in death's approach which makes 
the best and bravest tremble ; the severing of all earthly 
ties; the cold, clammy sweat, the failing breath, the 
struggle of the spirit for life, and the unspeakable 
anguish which often attends the closing scene, makes 
us shrink instinctively from the. dying strife. Some, 
however, who have fallen on the battle plain, in their 
country's cause, have been known to die exultantly, in 
the moment of victory exclaiming : " 'Tis sweet, oh, 
'tis sweet for my country to die!" The Christian 
martyr has been seen to yield up his life amid devour- 
ing flames, in proof of his attachment to his Lord and 
Master. Nay, many, very many, have triumphed on 
the bed of pain and languishing, and, upborne by a 
living faith, have looked upon death with an unfalter- 
ing gaze. But, when death comes attended with open 
shame and ignominy, when the infuriated mob pours 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 253 

out its reproaches on the object of its hate, and clamors 
furiously for his blood; when no tear is shed for the 
sufferer; when his eye looks around for a single look 
of pity, and sees it not; when his ear listens for one 
kind word to soothe his last agony, and hears it not; 
then, indeed, is death terrible. And yet to such a 
death did God give his Son. He gave him freely for 
us all, that he might taste death for every man. He 
met it in its most repulsive form — partdok of the death 
appointed for the vilest malefactors, in token that the 
benefits of his death might be enjoyed by the vilest of 
our race. Betrayed by a false friend; seized by rude 
foes in the garden, hallowed by his prayers; deserted 
by his disciples, he is confronted by those who have 
long thirsted for his blood. 

It is night; yet with indecent haste, they begin the 
trial. False witnesses fail to fasten any crime upon 
him. The Roman govenor declares, "I find no fault 
in him." Yet, when all the vile arts of flattery, in- 
timidation and perjury fail, for confessing the truth, 
that he is the Son of God, he is condemned to die. 
It is day — high day — and now the scene of shame, the 
scene of sorrow, begins. The multitude, excited by 
their leaders, demand his execution ; and, in answer to 
their bloodthirsty clamors, the victim is led forth. His 
body, lacerated with cruel stripes, seems one gushing 
wound ; yet that bleeding body and thorn-pierced brow 
awaken no pity in the breasts of his relentless persecu- 
tors. Ten thousand eyes glare fiercely upon him — ten 
thousand voices rend the heavens with the shout of 
"Crucify him! crucify him!" as with fiendish exulta- 



254 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

tion, they behold him delivered to their will. And now 
the living tide presses to the city gate; the priest, the 
scribe, the publican, the Pharisee, soldiers and civilians, 
rich and poor, all are in that throng, all animated by 
the same thirst for blood, all joining in bitter execra- 
tions, all striving to fill, with unmingled bitterness, 
the cup of agony he is called upon to drink; and yet 
no malediction falls from the lips of that meek suffer- 
er; no bright-armed legions are called from the skies, 
to spread destruction through that ungodly throng; 
but, as a sheep led to the slaughter, with painful step 
and slow, he urges his way up the rugged steep of 
Calvary. The goal of his earthly course is reached; 
his unresisting form is nailed to the accursed tree; the 
cross is upraised, and the spotless victim hangs on 
high; and for a season the powers of darkness seem 
to triumph. The turbaned priest mocks him in his 
bitter agony; the Pharisee smiles in scorn; the rabble 
revile and insult the dying victim. 

"Still from his lip no curse hath come, 
His lofty eye hath looked no doom, 
No earthquake's burst, no angel brand 
Curses the black, blaspheming band." 

No; but from those pale lips, quivering with anguish, 
issue the kind, compassionate words : "Father, forgive 
them"; and thus, in agony, he hung, bleeding, suffer- 
ing, dying; he bowed his head, cried. "It is finished," 
and died for us; and it is in this scene that we must 
look for the full import of the words, "God so loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten Son." 

But why all this divine compassion, all this love, and 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 255 

all this woe ? The answer is : "That whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." Not that all our race will be saved because Jesus 
died; not that the unbelieving and disobedient will be 
forced to the heaven they have striven to avoid; not 
that the proud scoffer and despiser of God's Son will 
be saved by that blood he now spurns and tramples 
upon ; but that whosoever believeth may come to Christ 
and live. But does a mere acceptance of the truth set 
forth in the text save? No; the sinner must trust in 
the Crucified One ; must love Him who laid down His 
life for his sake ; must prove his love and trust by obey- 
ing His commandments; for the faith that leads not to 
love and all holy obedience, is not the faith of the 
gospel. But what is meant by the phrase "not per- 
ish"? Does it mean "shall not die"? Surely not, for 
believers and unbelievers alike taste of death, and are 
laid in the narrow mansion appointed for all the 
living. The perishing, from which the believer is to be 
rescued, is more than the death of the body. It is the 
despair, the remorse, the unutterable woe, the bitter 
pang of the second death, which all shall know who 
despise the gift of God's great love, and, by their un- 
belief and consequent disobedience, exclude themselves 
forever from the paradise above. The believer in the 
Son of God, however, has more to expect than a mere 
escape from the woes consequent upon disobedience; 
for it is not only declared "that he shall not perish," 
but the gracious promise is added, "that he shall have 
everlasting life" — a life not of endless duration only, 
but a life of eternal blessedness in the presence of Him 



256 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

who makes heaven glorious and the angels glad. The 
society of the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, and 
all the pure in heart; a place near the crystal stream 
that flows from beneath the throne; the fruit and the 
shade of the tree of life; exemption from sickness, 
sorrow and tears; the harp of praise, the crown of 
glory, the palm of victory, everlasting joys, eternal 
songs, all the heart can wish — nay, more than the 
loftiest thought can conceive of blessedness, are all 
included in the promise of everlasting life — the inherit- 
ance of the believer in Jesus. 

A word to those who have not availed themselves 
of the merciful provisions of the gospel of peace, 
and we have done. You have seen the wonderful dis- 
play of love which God has made, and all this was done 
for you. You have seen the Lamb of God bleeding, 
groaning, agonizing, dying, not to save friends, but to 
secure happiness for his foes. Will God permit you 
to slight all this love, and all this sorrow, and yet hold 
you guiltless? Will you steel your hearts against all 
that God has done and Christ has suffered? Amid 
all those manifestations of tender compassion, will 
you force your way down to ruin, and madly seek 
that perdition from which the Redeemer died to save 
you? Will you still trample under foot his loving 
kindness and tender mercy, and expose yourself to all 
the unspeakable horrors of death eternal? Stop, I 
entreat you ! Be persuaded by your soul's peril, by the 
Saviour's blood and tears. If you shrink from the 
responsibilities of a follower of Christ, think, for a 
moment, of the fearful responsibilities of his enemies. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 257 

If you shrink at the difficulty of obedience, think of 
the danger of disobedience. If the weight of the cross 
appall you, think, oh, think of the brightness of the 
unfading, the immortal crown! God loves you; can 
you doubt it, when you look upon the cross and its 
bleeding victim ? Christ loves you ; can you doubt it 
when, for you — 

"He left his starry crown, 

And laid his robes aside ; 
On wings of love came down, 

And wept, and bled, and died"? 

Can you doubt it when, through his gospel, he is 
ever crying : "Come unto me" ? Can you stay away 
when he says : "He that cometh unto me, I will in 
no wise cast out" ? Turn, then, from all your sins 
away, "for the wages of sin is death." Turn to the 
Saviour, believe in him, love him, obey him; "for the 
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." 



THE CHURCH— ITS IDENTITY. 

By Benjamin Franklin. 

Benjamin Franklin was born February 1, 1812, in what is 
now Belmont County, O. Died at Anderson, Ind., October 22, 
1878. 

"But we think it right to hear from you what you think: 
for, as it respects this sect, we know that it is everywhere spoken 
against." Acts 28:22. (Anderson's Translation.) 

The Lord says, in Matt. 16: 18, referring to the 
confession Peter had made: "On this rock I will 
build my Church." My work in this discourse will 
be to define and identify the community styled by the 
Saviour "my Church." This is evidently the same 
community styled "this sect" in my text. The former 
is the Lord's way of speaking of the body in view, 
and the latter the way men, not in the community, 
and not understanding it or its position, but owing 
it no ill-will, spoke of it. This language comes from 
"the chief men of the Jews," as we learn from verse 
seventeen. That which our Lord calls "my Church," 
they call "this sect." Those "chief men of the Jews" 
regarded the body, or church, merely as a "sect," or 
faction, and certainly a very unpopular one, as it was 
"everywhere spoken against." 

This word "sect" is never used in a good sense in 
the New Testament; nor is the original word from 
which it comes. Hairesis, the original word from 
which we have "sect," occurs nine times in the New 

258 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 259 

Testament, and is translated "sect" five times, and 
"heresies" four times. We read of damnable heresies 
(2 Pet. 2:1), and find heresies put down with "the 
works of the flesh" (Gal. 5:20); and find the state- 
ment added, verse twenty-one, "that those who prac- 
tice such things (as heresies) shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God." Heresy is ranked with "lewdness, 
uncleanness, wantonness, idolatry, sorcery," etc. In the 
speech of Tertullus, accusing Paul (Acts 24:5), he 
charges him with being a ringleader of the "sect" of 
the Nazarenes. Verse fourteen, same chapter, we find 
Paul's reply, in which he says : "After the way which 
they call sect, so do I worship the God of my fathers." 
He does not admit that the body with which he was 
identified was a sect, but that it was called a sect. 
We can not, therefore, speak of a "Christian sect," or 
call the church a sect, without as great an impropriety 
as to speak of a Christian heresy, or call the church 
a heresy. 

There is a community called, in the New Testament, 
"the kingdom of God" (John 3:3); "the church of 
the living God" (1 Tim. 3:15); "one body" (Eph. 
4:4). To be in this body, church, or kingdom, is the 
same as to be "in Christ." It is to be in a justified 
state, or pardoned state. To enter into it, is to enter 
into a state of justification or pardon. In entering 
into that body, we come to the blood of Christ, which 
cleanses from all sin; to the Spirit and to the life of 
Christ, all of which are in the body. If we enjoy par- 
don, the benefits of the blood of Christ, the Holy 
Spirit, the life of Christ, we must be in the body. God 



260 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

and Christ dwell in the church, which is the temple 
of God and the "pillar and support of the truth." To 
dwell with God and Christ, enjoy the cleansing of the 
blood of Christ, the remission of sins, the impartation 
of the spirit of God, and the new life, we must be in 
Christ, or in his body — the church. To be out of the 
church is to be separated from God, Christ, the Holy 
Spirit, the blood of Christ, the life of Christ, and justi- 
fication. It becomes a matter of momentous impor- 
tance, then, to know that we are in Christ, or in the 
church. 

It is not enough to know that we are in a church, 
but we must know that we are in "the church of the 
living God," "the kingdom of God," or "body of 
Christ." There is not a promise in any other institu- 
tion or community but this. The Lord has one church, 
and we must not mistake something else for that 
church. How can we know that we are members of 
the church unless we know what the church is? If 
we do not know what the church is, we do not know 
whether we are in the church or not, whether 
we are in Christ or not, whether we are justi- 
fied or not. If we intend to enjoy God, Christ, 
the Holy Spirit, the blood of Christ, and, in one 
word, the salvation of God in the kingdom or 
church, we must be in that kingdom. To be in the 
kingdom or church, we must know what it is. How 
shall we, then, identify the church or kingdom of 
Christ? I lay down the following points for con- 
sideration : 

I. A body, or community, not built on the founda- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 261 

tion which God laid, is not the community which the 
Lord calls "my church." 

II. A community not founded and established in 
the right place, is not the church of Christ. 

III. A community not founded at the right time is 
not the kingdom of Christ. 

IV. No church can be the true church not founded 
by the proper persons, Christ and the apostles. 

V. A kingdom with any other law than the one 
given by the Head of the church, is not the kingdom of 
Christ. 

VI. Any community labeled with a foreign name, 
or a name not found to designate the body of Christ, 
in the New Testament, is not the kingdom of God. 

A failure at any one of these points is fatal to the 
claims of any body professing to be the body of Christ. 
It is due to the greater portion of the religious bodies 
of our day, called "churches," to state distinctly that 
they do not claim to be the kingdom of God, or the 
body of Christ. Excepting a few, the balance only 
claim to be branches of the body, or church of Christ. 
Where a church does not claim to be "the church," 
but simply a branch of the church, the members are 
only members of a branch, and the officers are only 
officers of a branch, and not members and officers of 
the body of Christ. These branches, and officers in 
them, are as separate and distinct from the kingdom 
of Christ and the officers in it, as Great Britain and 
Russia, and the officers of these respective govern- 
ments. One of these branch communities does not re- 
spect the acts of another, or in any way regard them. 



262 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

These different branch communities are distinct, sepa- 
rate, and independent kingdoms, with different laws, 
officers, names, foundations, times, and places of origin. 
They are not built on the same foundation, did not 
originate at the same time and place, have not the 
same law and officers, nor the same ecclesiastical or- 
ganization, and are, to all intents and purposes, in- 
dependent and distinct communities. If one of them 
dies, there is no grief or lamentation among the others, 
in view of the loss, nor an effort to save another 
branch of the same church from dying. They are all 
willing it should die. They have not one particle of 
sympathy for it. If a new party attempts to rise, the 
parties in existence, instead of thanking God that an- 
other orthodox church has been born, taking it by the 
hand and raising it up to manhood and rejoicing in 
its appearance, turn their batteries on it from every 
quarter, denouncing it as a "damnable heresy," and 
do their utmost to destroy it. When they fail, and find 
that it will live in spite of all their denunciations and 
efforts to kill it, they turn round and recognize it as 
another "orthodox denomination." Not a new relig- 
ious party ever came into existence on the face of the 
globe that was not denounced as a heresy when it first 
made its appearance, and that was not fought and 
opposed while it was young and weak. But when a 
party becomes strong, influential, and popular, it be- 
comes an orthodox branch of the church! Thus, all 
the parties now called "orthodox branches" were once 
styled "heresies ;" and that, too, when they were better 
than they are now; but when they could fight their 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 263 

way, and live, in spite of the old ones, they ceased to 
be heresies, and became good orthodox branches! 

I. We have said, that no party, or community not 
built on the foundation which the Lord laid in Zion, 
is "the Church of the living God." What, then, is the 
foundation of the true Church? The Lord inquired 
of the apostles, "Who say you that I am?" Peter 
replied: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living- 
God." The Saviour proceeded: "On this rock I will 
build my Church." On which rock? On this grand 
statement, which flesh and blood had not revealed, but 
which the Father in heaven had revealed, and which he 
compares to a rock — that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of the living God" — "on this," says he, "I will found 
my Church." This is the great proposition of the 
Divine government. In it all the minor propositions 
are included. In it centers, and on it rests, the entire 
revelation from God to man. If this grand proposi- 
tion concerning Jesus, that "he is the Christ, the Son 
of the living God," is true, the entire Scriptures are 
true; for this being true, he knew all things, and his 
numerous quotations from Moses, the Psalms, and the 
Prophets, as the zvord of God, and the language of the 
Spirit of God, is an indorsement of all these writings. 
His calling the apostles, sending them and qualifying 
them, as well as endowing them with supernatural 
power, gave them an endorsement that no man can in 
honor evade. This grand proposition is the foundation 
of the Church, the faith, all true piety, and the hope of 
heaven. It is not a proposition concerning a theory, a 
speculation, or subtlety, but a proposition concerning 



264 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

a person, who was dead and is alive, and lives forever 
and ever. This proposition is of such momentous 
magnitude, if true, that we will be lost forever if we 
do receive it. The Almighty Father will cast us off 
forever, as if we had rejected himself in person, if we 
reject this fundamental proposition concerning his 
Son. The moment we receive this proposition, we 
bind ourselves to receive all that Jesus taught, do all 
he commanded, and furthermore, we have a right to 
hope for all he has promised. 

How many churches have we in this generation that 
are built on this foundation, or that will receive a 
person on this foundation? I regret to know 
that many of them openly declare this not suf- 
ficient. They maintain that we must have some- 
thing more. In doing this, they do not honor 
our most gracious and adorable Lord, but dis- 
honor him. Is there one church in the world that 
ignores all articles of religion, written out by unin- 
spired men, in receiving the sinner, and that receives 
him on the confession that "Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of the living God?" There is one Church that 
does this. This Church is built on this great truth, 
and receives every person that comes on this founda- 
tion-truth, to the initiating rite of the New Institution ; 
and it will receive him on nothing else. Those received 
on this foundation, and united in one body, are on 
the rock — the sure foundation. Those built on any 
other foundation, or not on this foundation, can 
not claim to be the Church of the living God, 
the body or kingdom of Christ. The Romish Church 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 265 

is not built on the truth that "Jesus is the Christ the 
Son Of the living God" — the rock — but on "the lie" 
that Peter is the rock. 

The central idea, or foundation-thought, in the 
Episcopal Church, is its form of church government. 
Its very name originated in this peculiar form of gov- 
ernment. This is a side foundation, or another foun- 
dation, and not the one which the Lord laid. Not 
being built on the true foundation — the one which God 
laid — it is not the building of God, not the temple of 
God. 

The fundamental, or central idea in Methodism, or 
in the Methodist body, is method. It took its name 
from the idea of method. It is founded on the idea 
of method. There is nothing religious, spiritual, or 
celestial in method. There are as many methods of 
doing evil as of doing good. Still, this is the central 
idea of the largest Protestant party in the world. This 
is not only another, but almost no foundation. No 
wonder that a people should be dividing every few 
years, with a central idea so feeble in its attractive 
powers. The Presbyterian body has for its central, or 
fundamental idea, the Presbyterial form of Church 
government, or the idea of governing by a presbytery. 
This is, so far as it is a foundation at all, another foun- 
dation, and not the one which God laid. The body, 
or building on it, is not on the true foundation, and 
not the building of God. The central idea in the Bap- 
tist body is baptism. The body takes its name from 
the initiatory rite of the kingdom, and not from the 
head over all, blessed forever and ever. It is founded on 



266 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

an ordinance, and not on the truth concerning him who 
authorized the ordinance. This is another founda- 
tion. So on, the whole round of sectarian establish- 
ments. Not one of them is founded on the true foun- 
dation — the truth — concerning Jesus, that "he is the 
Christ, the Son of the living God." Not one of them 
has confidence enough in our Lord to make the truth 
concerning him its central idea, its foundation. Not 
one of them is willing to indentify itself with our Lord, 
commit itself to him as its teacher, leader, and head, 
and binding itself to his holy law, declare itself for 
him, and all he taught. 

II. A community not founded or established in the 
right place is not the true Church. I am rejoiced that 
I need no special effort to show the place where the 
true Church was founded. All agree that in Jerusalem 
was the place. The Lord said it behooved the 
Messiah to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the 
third day; and that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name to all nations, begin- 
ning in Jerusalem. It would be easy to refer to the 
prophets, and to many portions of the New Testament, 
and show, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the true 
Church was founded in Jerusalem. But, as all parties 
admit this, I shall not occupy my limited space in 
arraying the proof. 

If my hearers desire to know whether the body with 
which they stand identified is the true Church, let them 
inquire where it zvas founded. If it was founded in 
Jerusalem, it may be the true Church; but if it was 
not founded in Jerusalem, it is most conclusive evi- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 267 

dence that it is not the true Church. No matter how 
many good people there are in it, nor how many good 
things are taught and done in it, it is not the true 
Church. One clear difference between a counterfeit 
and genuine note detects the one that is counterfeit, 
especially so clear a difference as a difference in the 
place of location. A difference, then, between any 
body of people and the body of Christ so striking, as 
originating in Rome, and originating in Jerusalem, or 
the difference between being founded in Rome, 
and being founded in Jerusalem, proves that which 
was founded in Rome, London or Geneva to be 
counterfeit. The Church of Christ was first planted 
in Jerusalem, and all churches first planted or founded 
anywhere else are certainly spurious. They are 
not genuine. 

Nor is it any matter how many points of resem- 
blance there may be between the genuine and the coun- 
terfeit — they are not the same; but the counterfeit is 
only the more dangerous, and likely to deceive. When 
trying them, to determine which is the true or the 
genuine Church, look for this mark on it: "In 
Jerusalem." 

III. A community not founded at the right time 
is not the kingdom of God, or body of Christ. This 
test is a severe one. It is unambiguous. The com- 
munity which the Lord calls "my Church" (Matt. 
16: 18), was certainly not built when he said: "On 
this rock I will build my Church." He alluded to what 
he intended to do in the future, and not to what he 
had done in the past, when he said, "I will build my 



268 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

Church." He taught his disciples to pray, "Thy 
kingdom come"; but certainly did not teach them thus 
to pray after the kingdom had come. "There be some 
standing here who shall not taste death till they see 
the kingdom of God come with power." Many Scrip- 
tures like these show that the kingdom had not yet 
come, or that the Church was not yet established. In 
the apostolic letters, we find numerous references to 
the Church, kingdom, body, house of God, temple of 
God, etc., as then in existence, showing that the 
Church, or kingdom, was established. This, then, 
proves that it was founded in the time of the apostles. 

This is sufficient for my purpose now. The true 
Church was, then, founded in the time of the apostles. 
This is a mark of the genuine Church not to be found 
on any counterfeit in the world. A community not 
founded in the time of the apostles, is not the one 
which the Lord called "my Church," or is not the 
Church of the living God. I care not where the history 
of a community of people may lead us. If it lead not 
to the time of the apostles, it does not lead us to the 
founding of that body, purchased and cleansed by the 
blood of Christ. 

When did the Church of Rome originate? It did 
not originate in a day or a year, but gradually sub- 
verted the apostles' teaching, and, in centuries, inaugu- 
rated full-grown popery. But there is not a trace of 
a "Pope or Universal Father," to say nothing of 
"Vicegerent of Christ," or "Lord God the Pope," nor 
popery, in the history of the first three centuries of 
the Christian era. Popery was inaugurated too late, 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 269 

by at least three centuries, to be the true or genuine 
Church. It is one of the basest and most impudent 
counterfeits ever imposed on the credulity of man. 
If popery was born too late, or is too young to be the 
true Church, what shall be said of those communities 
born in the past three centuries? They are all too 
young by largely more than a thousand years. No 
church that came into existence since the death of the 
apostles can be the Church of the living God. 

IV. No church can be the true Church that was 
not founded by Christ and the apostles. Churches 
founded by other persons, or originating with other 
persons, are simply not the Church of Christ. All 
books, all parties, and all men agree that Christ and the 
apostles founded the community called "the body of 
Christ" — the "one body" of Paul. What shall we say, 
then, of a church that traces its history to George 
Fox, and finds not a trace of its existence beyond him. 
There never was a Quaker before George Fox, nor a 
Quaker Church. The history of the world does not 
refer to the existence of a Lutheran or a Lutheran 
Church before Martin Luther lived. The Lutheran 
Church originated with Luther. The body of Christ 
existed from the apostolic day till the time of Luther, 
before there was any Lutheran Church. The Presby- 
terian Church originated with John Calvin. Before 
the time of Calvin there never was a Presbyterian, nor 
a Presbyterian Church. The Church, or body of 
Christ, existed from the time of the apostles till the 
time of Calvin, and consequently could not have been 
established by Calvin. Presbyterianism was, therefore, 



270 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

born many long centuries too late to lay any claims 
to Christianity. It may have incorporated some 
Christianity in it, but it is still carefully and very justly 
labeled "Presbyterianism." The Methodist Church 
originated with John Wesley. Before the time of 
Wesley there never was a Methodist Church or a 
Methodist. But the Church of Christ existed from 
the time of the apostles till the time of Wesley. Hence, 
Methodism originated with the wrong person to be the 
Church of Christ. The body of Christ originated with 
Christ and his apostles, and not with Wesley. Any 
body or community that did not originate with Christ 
and the apostles, but with some more modern person 
or persons, is manifestly not the body of Christ. 

V. A kingdom or community, with any other law 
than the one given by the Lord, the great Head of the 
Church, is manifestly not the kingdom of Christ. The 
law of the great King is clearly laid down in the Bible. 
The Bible contains the constitution and law of the 
King for his kingdom. This was the only law ever 
authorized by the great King and Head of the Church, 
or adopted, approved, and practiced under in the time 
of the apostles. Any church or body of people, who 
have substituted any other law, no matter how many 
resemblances there may be between it and the law of 
God, is not the body of Christ. He never authorized 
a living man even to alter his law, add anything to it, 
or take anything from it, to say nothing of substituting 
another law for it. It may be replied that these other 
laws are like the law of God, or taken from it. This, 
these parties do not believe themselves. A Presbyte- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 271 

rian does not believe that the Methodist "Book of Dis- 
cipline" is the Divine authority; has no regard for it; 
and probably never reads it. A Methodist does not 
believe that the Presbyterian Confession of Faith is 
of Divine authority, and has no regard for it. There 
is not a party in the world that has any regard for the 
Presbyterian Confession of Faith, except the Presby- 
terian party. The same is true of the creed of every 
other party in the world. But all good people have 
respect for the law of God. The law of God is 
supreme, and those loyal to it, united under it, and 
keeping it, are his people — the body of Christ. But 
those formed into parties, under other laws, are new 
settlements not indorsed by our King. 

VI. Any community labeled with some foreign 
name, or some name unknown to the New Covenant, 
must be a new and strange body. There can be no 
use in a new name for the old body or community. 
There must be a new idea, or something different from 
the old community, to create the necessity for a new 
name. If we have nothing they did not have in apos- 
tolic times, we need no other names than they had. If 
we have the kingdom of God, the Church of God, the 
body of Christ, and nothing else, there is no need 
of calling it anything else. But the truth is, new names 
come from new ideas, and are intended to express 
something new. A man may read of the Church of 
God, the body of Christ, the kingdom of God, etc., 
for a month, and it never suggests a Methodist Church, 
a Presbyterian Church, or a Baptist Church, unless in 
contrast. He knows that he is not reading about these 



272 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

latter bodies, as they were not in existence at the time 
of the writing. The new and foreign name shows that 
it does not refer to the body of Christ, but something 
else. 

Now, there are so many notions about succession 
of churches, preachers, officers, ordinations, or- 
dinances, and the like, that I know that many will 
inquire for a succession in some of these respects. It 
will, therefore be necessary to make a few observations 
touching this subject: 

1. The attempts at making out a succession of 
Popes on the part of Romanists — the wicked Popes 
through which their pretended succession runs, and the 
will, therefore, be necessary to make a few observations 
successions attempted to be shown in the Greek and 
Episcopal churches — are sufficient to cover the face of 
a man of conscience and sense with utter shame and 
confusion. 

If there is no grace to be found unless these suc- 
cessions, or any one of them, can be made out, the 
world is lost. But I am thankful that the New Testa- 
ment knows as little of any of these successions, or 
any necessity for them, as it does of a Romish, Greek, 
or Episcopal Church. The Church of Christ is not 
built on a succession of any kind, Romish, Greek, or 
Episcopal, but on the truth concerning Jesus, that "he 
is the Christ, the Son of the living God." The souls 
of the saints rest not on the difficult and doubtful task 
of making out successions of any kind. They turn 
their hearts to the truth concerning our Lord, which he 
compares to a rock, on which he said, "I will build my 
Church." They find the Church built on that great 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 273 

foundation-truth, and it receives all its members on 
that truth, as it did at the beginning, in the right place, 
in Jerusalem; at the right time, on Pentscost; origi- 
nating with the right persons, Christ and the apostles ; 
having the right law, the law of God; and with the 
right name, the body of Christ, the kingdom or Church 
of God, with the original worship and all things as 
they were at the first. Having come into the school 
of Christ, they are now his disciples, learners, pupils, 
and he is their Teacher. They are so busily engaged 
in the lessons given them by their Great Teacher, and 
so enraptured with them, that they have no time for 
examining musty records about successions of 
churches, men, or ordinances. They depend not on 
succession, but fellowship with the Father, and his Son 
Jesus the Christ. They listen to no unregenerated 
men, prating about a succession which never was, and 
never can be made out, but to the law of their glorious 
King. If these successions ask where the Church was 
in the dark ages, tell them you know not; that the 
Lord took care of it, and you are thankful to know 
that it is here still, full of life, power, and determina- 
tion, and destined to do a greater work than ever be- 
fore. Tell them that, with God's blessing, we intend 
to restore the sure foundation which the Lord laid, 
and build on, sweeping away everything in the way 
of the work ; that we intend to reinstate the authority 
— the supreme authority — of our only Potentate, Jesus 
the Messiah, head over all, blessed forever and ever, 
and sweep from earth all opposing authority of men; 
that we intend to restore the law of God to the people 



274 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

of this generation, reinstate it fully, where the clergy 
had set it aside by the doctrines and commandments 
of men, at the same time sweeping away all creeds, 
confessions of faith, disciplines, etc., in the way of the 
full and free administration of the law of God. Tell 
them that we intend a complete restoration of the faith, 
practice, worship, and all things as they were at the 
first. 

Here is clear and definite work. That body, which 
the Lord called "my Church," which was "everywhere 
spoken against," in the time of Paul, is here, alive, 
standing on the old foundation, with the same Head, 
creed, or law, and the same name; nor does it fail 
to be "everywhere spoken against" still; nor is it a 
matter of importance whether it can trace a succession 
back through the dark ages or not ; it is here and alive, 
and as determined as ever to live and maintain its 
rights. It was dead during the dark ages; God has 
raised it from the dead, and breathed new life into it. 
What we want now, is to know zvho its friends are? 
We want to see every man who intends to stand for 
the Head of the Church, the foundation, the apostles' 
teaching and all things as they were at the first, to 
stand out on one side. If there are those who do 
not intend to stand to this, we want them to stand 
on the other side. We desire to know who is on the 
Lord's side, and who is not; who is for us, and who 
is against us ; who is loyal, and who sympathizes with 
the enemy. 

We are occupying the most responsible position of 
any body of people on the earth. We are bound to the 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 275 

Lord Jesus, in the new and everlasting covenant, sealed 
by the blood of Jesus, and confirmed by the oath of 
the Almighty, as well as by all the veracity and honor 
there is in us, to be true to this great work. Let us, 
then, make a glorious record, one that we shall be 
happy to contemplate at death, and that shall be a 
credit to us in the day of judgment. 

To the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the 
only wise God our Saviour, be glory and dominion, 
majesty and power, forever and ever. 



A DISCOURSE ON CONVERSION. 

BY J. M. MATHES. 

James M. Mathes was born in Jefferson County, Ky., July 8, 
1808. Died June 16, 1892. 

My Christian Friends and Fellow Citizens: 

I count myself peculiarly happy to-day in having 
the privilege of addressing so many of you as I see. 
before me. The subject which I have chosen as the 
theme of the present discourse is one of much impor- 
tance, according to the acknowledgment of all. It is 
the great subject of CONVERSION. 

There is not, I believe, a sect in Christendom which 
does not teach that sinners must be converted. We 
may differ widely about what it is, and how it is ef- 
fected, and when and where it takes place; but as to 
the necessity of it, there is no debate. The Calvinist 
preaches that sinners must be converted; but he tells 
us that it is a miraculous work, wrought on the elect 
only, by sovereign grace, and this God will perform 
in His own good time; while the non-elect are passed 
by, and no provision made for them in the covenant 
of grace; and they, of course, can not be converted. 
Universalists admit that men must be converted, but 
some of them think it will take place in the resurrec- 
tion of the dead, and that all men, without distinction 

of person or character, shall enjoy this conversion. 
276 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 277 

And I would further remark, that from a pretty 
extensive acquaintance with the religious world, I 
am satisfied that this subject is not as well under- 
stood as it ought to be. We therefore propose to 
discuss it in a plain and familiar manner, so that 
every one may not only know what we mean by it, 
but understand the great doctrine of conversion as 
taught in the New Testament. I intend to make it 
so plain that the little boys and girls in the congre- 
gation can understand it. As a foundation for what 
we shall say upon this subject we will read the follow- 
ing texts of Scripture: 

"For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their 
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have 
closed; lest at any time they should see with their 
eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand 
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should 
heal them."— Matt. 13: 15. 

"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set 
him in the midst of them, and said, Verily, I say unto 
you, except ye be converted, and become as little chil- 
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." — 
Matt. 18:3. 

"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your 
sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing 
shall come from the presence of the Lord." — Acts 
3:19. 

In the discussion of this subject, I shall observe 
the following order : 

I. We shall inquire, what is conversion? 

II. We shall inquire, how is it effected? 



278 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

III. Speak of the glorious privileges and blessings 
of those who are Scripturally converted to God, and 
the awful consequences resulting from a want of con- 
version, and a life of sin and rebellion against God. 

According to the order proposed, we are to inquire — 

I. What is Conversion? 

Now, I suppose, if I were to ask every member of 
my auditory the question, What is conversion ? I should 
receive diverse and contradictory answers. A large 
proportion of our co-religionists use the term as syn- 
onymous with pardon. How common to hear expres- 
sions like this, from a certain class of professors of 
religion : "Twenty persons were converted at the 
camp-meeting this week." By which they simply 
mean that twenty persons were pardoned; or got re- 
ligion, to use a more common phrase. Now we expect 
to prove conclusively in a few minutes, that such a 
form of expression does not convey the Scriptural idea 
of conversion. Indeed, conversion is one thing in 
which the sinner is active, and pardon is another and 
different thing, in which he is passive. 

To prove this, it is only necessary to notice the 
form of expression in the text, "Lest they should see 
with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with 
their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." 

Now, you will observe that the conversion takes 
place first, and the healing follows after. But what 
is the healing spoken of in the text? By reference to 
the parallel passage in Mark 4:12, the matter is plain. 
Here it reads : "That seeing, they may not perceive ; 
and hearing, they may hear and not understand; lest 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 279 

at any time they should be converted, and their sins 
should be forgiven them." The healing, then, means 
forgiveness of sins. According to the teaching of the 
Saviour, then, men have to be converted in order that 
their sins may be forgiven them. But take another 
example. Peter says, "Repent and be converted, that 
your sins may be blotted out." The blotting out of 
sins is pardon or forgiveness of sins, as all will readily 
admit. It follows, then, with the clearness of demon- 
stration, that conversion is a different thing from 
pardon. Men have to be converted in order that their 
sins may be pardoned. That the sinner is active in 
conversion is clear from the form of the command, 
"Repent and be converted ;" literally, "repent and con- 
vert." That they are passive in receiving remission 
of sins, is clear from hundreds of Scriptures where 
the matter is spoken of. "And I should heal them," 
"that your sins may be blotted out," "It is God that 
justifies," "have received redemption through his 
blood, the forgiveness of sins." 

Well, if conversion is not remission of sins, what, 
then, is it? 

1. The Greek word e bistre pho y in some of its 
forms, occurs some thirty-nine times in the New Tes- 
tament. And it is rendered conversion one time, con- 
verteth one, be converted six, again three, turning 
two, turn ten, returned two, turned ten. 

Now, from these renderings it is evident that the 
word means simply to change, to turn. We use it 
in this sense every day. When we say that A has 
converted his farm into money, we simply mean that 



280 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

he has changed his farm for its value in cash. The 
materials of which this book is composed have been 
converted. The paper was made of rags, and the 
process of manufacturing it was a conversion. The 
binding was once sheep skin; it was converted to 
leather, and then to a book cover. 

But the conversion of the sinner is a great moral 
change, by which he is translated from the kingdom 
of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. In 
order to understand the nature of this great change 
called "conversion," we will look for a moment at the 
moral condition of all unconverted men. They are 
represented in the Scriptures as rebels against God, 
and enemies to his moral government. At an early 
period in the history of our race, man rebelled against 
his God, and became a sinner. His sins separated be- 
tween him and his kind Heavenly Father, and as a 
dark cloud shut out the light of His countenance from 
him; doomed to death, and condemned to toil in the 
sun, a slave to his appetites and passions, without the 
ability to redeem himself from the dominion of sin, 
and the sentence of death. 

At the fall of man, Satan erected his empire on 
earth, and man became his subject, and was led away 
captive by the devil at his will. Satan, himself a 
fallen spirit, rejoiced in the degradation and misery 
of man, and bound him fast in the slavery of sin. 
Man, thus degraded and depraved, could not look up 
to God and claim his Divine protection and love; 
all this he had forfeited by his voluntary act of re- 
bellion. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 281 

How fearful is that abyss of misery and woe, 
into which man was plunged by sin? God looked 
down from heaven and saw that there was none that 
did good — no, not one! They had all gone astray. 
And Paul describes the condition of the sinner before 
his conversion thus : 

"That at that time ye were without Christ, being 
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and stran- 
gers from the covenants of promise, having no hope 
and without God in the world." — Eph. 2: 12. 

This sad state of things lasted some four thousand 
years, till the time of reformation. But deep as was 
man's helpless misery, he was not left without a prom- 
ise of future good. The declaration of God, made to 
the serpent at the time of the transgression, that the 
seed of the woman should bruise his head, is gen- 
erally understood to have reference to the great Mes- 
siah, and his triumph over the great enemy of God 
and man. And to Abraham he made a direct promise 
of Christ, which the apostle Paul calls "the gospel 
preached before to Abraham, saying, in thy seed shall 
the families of the earth be blessed." 

With the love of sin in his heart, and practicing 
it in his life, and without strength to save himself, 
the sinner must be regarded as ruined and undone. 
In this condition he must be lost forever. But God 
has provided means for his recovery. He must be 
converted, or he can not enter into the kingdom of 
God. This brings us to consider — 

II. How is the sinner converted to God, and by 
what means is it effected ? 



282 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

In considering the subject of conversion under this 
head, I shall speak of conversion in reference to the 
heart, the life and state of the individual in this life, 
and his final deliverance from the bondage of cor- 
ruption into the glorious liberty of the children of 
God. 

1. The conversion of the heart. The heart being 
the center of all our desires and labors, must first of 
all be converted. "The heart is desperately wicked, 
and deceitful above all things; who can know it?" 
And the Psalmist says, "The wicked work wicked- 
ness in their heart." — Ps. 58. The heart may be re- 
garded as the great laboratory or workshop of the 
mind. In the heart thoughts are matured and plans 
and purposes of future action are conceived and ar- 
ranged. In the heart sin reigns as a tyrant, bringing 
the whole man into subjection to his unholy rule. On 
this subject the apostle Paul remarks : 

"I speak after the manner of men, because of the 
infirmity of your flesh; for as you have yielded your 
members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto 
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants 
to righteousness, unto holiness." — Rom. 6 : 19. 

Before any one can become a Christian, then, the 
tyrant sin must be dethroned in the heart — his reign- 
ing power must be destroyed. How is this to be done ? 
We answer, the heart must be converted — that is, it 
must be changed from the love of sin to the love of 
righteousness. How is this conversion of heart ef- 
fected? To this question several diverse answers are 
given. The Predestinarian says that God, having 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 283 

foreordained whatever comes to pass, has fixed the 
time irrevocably, at which each one of the elect shall 
be converted, and that when the time comes, he will 
convert them by His almighty power, without any 
condition being performed on the part of the creature. 

To this theory of conversion we have several ob- 
jections. 1. It makes salvation unconditional, while 
the Scriptures everywhere represent the whole mat- 
ter as conditional. "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall 
be damned." "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." "Sirs, 
what must I do?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved and thy house." 

2. It destroys man's moral agency. For if God 
has foreordained whatever comes to pass, it extends 
to all the actions of men, and if no man can act dif- 
ferently from what he does, he acts not from choice, 
but from necessity — he has no choice in the matter! 
But the Bible everywhere teaches us that men are 
moral agents and act freely under the influence of 
their own choice, in receiving or rejecting the mercy 
of God. "Come unto me all ye that labor, and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take my yoke 
upon you and learn of me, for I am lowly in heart, 
and you shall find rest to your souls, for my yoke 
is easy and my burden is light." Again, "Ye will 
not come to me that ye might have life." "Look unto 
me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved." "Who- 



284 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

ever will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and 
take up his cross and follow me." 

3. But worse than all, it makes God the author 
of sin! For if God has foreordained whatever comes 
to pass, the wicked acts of man are as much the sub- 
ject of his predestination as any thing else. For if 
man is not a moral agent, but acts under the law of 
necessity, he is not to be blamed for any wicked act, 
since he could not in the nature of things avoid it. 
And we ask, why are not all men converted ? The an- 
swer is, God withholds the Divine power necessary 
to the conversion of the elect, and they can do noth- 
ing to superinduce those Divine operations so neces- 
sary to their conversion, and consequently they are 
living in sin. Now, I ask who is to blame? Not the 
sinner, for he could not do otherwise than he does; 
and consequently, if the theory be true, God must be 
the author of all the sin in the world. How mon- 
strous ! 

But the predestinarian theory also destroys the 
doctrine of forgiveness altogether! Pardon always 
looks to the act of the creature, and recognizes man's 
moral agency. But if the doctrine be true, man has 
no moral agency, performs no voluntary actions, and 
of course is just as incapable of sinning as a horse 
or an ox; and therefore he can commit no sin to be 
forgiven! But the Bible teaches us that God pardons 
the believing, penitent, obedient sinner. Indeed, the 
text affirms this. But I need not elaborate this point, 
as we suppose but few, if any, of our hearers are 
troubled with this doctrine. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 285 

But Arminians generally give a very different an- 
swer to the question. They tell us that Christ died 
for all men, and thus opened the way for the salva- 
tion of all; but no man can be converted, or changed 
in heart, without the direct personal agency of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Now this is but little less objectionable than the 
former. If we ask, why are not all men converted? 
the answer is, according to this hypothesis, sinners 
can not convert themselves, and God has not afforded 
to them the immediate gracious influences of his Holy 
Spirit; and therefore they remain in their sins. And 
suppose God should never send to them these direct 
influences, and they should die in their sins and ap- 
pear before the judgment seat of Christ, might they 
not excuse themselves thus, "Lord, I am here in 
my sins; but I have done what I could to avoid it. 
I was willing to be converted, but had no power to 
effect it. I have waited all my life for the direct 
agency of the Holy Spirit to change my heart; but it 
came not?" Now, it seems to me, that such an excuse, 
if it can be fairly made out, would be taken at the 
judgment of the great day. But the Scriptures abun- 
dantly teach that man has something to do in his 
conversion, and that he must be active in coming to 
Christ. 

But I shall now undertake to show briefly, but 
clearly, how the heart is converted. According to the 
text it is effected by seeing with the eyes, hearing with 
the ears, and understanding with the heart. God has 
given us our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our 



286 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

hearts to understand, and our judgments to decide, 
and our reason and conscience enlightened, to guide 
us in obedience to the law of the Lord. The heart 
is affected by what we see and hear and understand; 
this no one will deny. God has therefore given us 
His Word; and the effect which it produces upon 
our heart is the same, whether we see it or hear it. 
It is like this : Suppose at this moment a well-known 
friend from the city of Indianapolis should step into 
this house and announce to me the death of my wife, 
since I left home ; if I believed the report, it would 
immediately affect my heart, and sorrow would be 
depicted in my countenance. Or, if I should receive 
a letter from the city in the well-known handwriting 
of my son, giving me the same sad intelligence, it 
would have the same effect upon my heart; of course, 
in either case, I must understand the communication, 
and believe it, too. 

Now, God has addressed to us, through our eyes 
and ears, the sublime and wonderful truths and facts 
of the gospel, designed to affect our hearts, and work 
in us a great moral change. "I am not ashamed of 
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believes." Again : "It 
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save 
them that believe." And as the conversion of the 
heart is the very first step in our salvation, it follows 
that the heart is changed, or converted, by the gos- 
pel preached in its simplicity. 

In the gospel we learn that we are undone and 
helpless sinners; but that "God so loved the world 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 287 

that he sent his Son into the world, that whosoever 
believeth on Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life." Brought to see ourselves sinners, we 
look into the gospel, and there we contemplate with 
astonishment the philanthropy of the heavenly Father, 
in the rich provisions made for our salvation in the 
gospel. We approach the cross of Christ, and behold 
a demonstration of the love of God to man. And 
while we contemplate the wonders of the cross, 

"Our stubborn heart 
Feels its own hardness soon depart." 

The enmity of the heart is slain, and with John we 
can say, "We love him because he first loved us." 
The love of sin in our hearts is destroyed, and in 
heart we are turned from the love of sin to the love 
of holiness. 

To prove that I am correct in this, let me bring for- 
ward an example or two. Go to the day of Pentecost. 
Peter stood up with eleven, and preached the gospel 
to the astonished crowd. He told them of the death, 
burial and resurrection of Christ, and of His exalta- 
tion to the right hand of God. "And when they heard 
this they were pierced in their heart." What was it 
that affected their hearts? Why, what they heard. 
When Christ was transfigured upon the Holy Moun- 
tain, the voice which came from the excellent glory 
said, "This is my beloved Son, hear ye him." 

But perhaps some one is ready to object and say 
that this view of the subject gives the sinner too much 
to do in his own conversion, and certainly the Saviour 



288 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

says, "No man can come to me, except the Father 
who sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the 
last day." Yes, and so say we; but how does the 
Father draw men to Christ? Jesus tells us in the 
succeeding verse (John 6:44, 45), "As it is written, 
and they shall be taught of God; every man, there- 
fore, who hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, 
cometh unto me." So, then, men are drawn to Christ 
by being taught of God — by hearing and learning of 
the Father. God teaches men by His word, and thus 
prepares them to come, and draws them to His Son. 

But, says another objector, the Holy Spirit certain- 
ly has something to do in the conversion of a sinner to 
God; for Jesus promised His disciples that "When he 
(the Holy Spirit) comes, he shall convince the world 
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment." 

Very well; and so he did, and so he does now; 
upon this point there is no debate. The question is, 
how does the Holy Spirit do the work? We answer, 
when he came on the day of Pentecost, he was in 
the apostles, and gave them utterance, and the words 
which they spake were the words of the Holy Spirit; 
and what they preached on that occasion was the 
gospel. Then, the matter may be stated thus : 

The Holy Spirit is the agent, and the Word of 
God, or gospel, the instrumentality employed for con- 
vincing the world of sin, of righteousness, and of 
judgment; and hence it is that Jesus commanded that 
the gospel should be preached to every creature; and 
hence it is, also, that no man was ever convinced of 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 289 

sin and converted to God, without hearing the gospel 
in some way. 

Thus it will be seen that our faith in the crucified 
Redeemer destroys the love of sin in our hearts and 
prepares us for the obedience of faith. "Without 
faith it is impossible to please God," but with faith, 
which is a firm belief of the truth with all the heart, 
we may please God by obeying Him as our heavenly 
Father. 

I am aware that most of our religious friends and 
orthodox neighbors would consider a man thus 
changed in heart as a converted and pardoned man. 
So you see that we contend for all that the sects do, 
and more, too. 

2. A man thus converted in heart, before he can be 
pardoned Scripturally, must be converted in life. For 
this purpose, "God has commanded all men every- 
where to repent." 

This gospel repentance which changes or converts 
the life may be considered in reference to two or three 
particulars. 1. Repentance signifies a change of pur- 
pose. In this sense it frequently occurs in the Old 
Testament. It is sometimes said that God repented. 
"If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn 
from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought 
to do unto them." "If it do evil in my sight, that it 
obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good 
wherewith I said I would benefit them" (Jer. 18: 
8-10). 

Now, we can not suppose that God repents in the 
sense of sorrow ; but in the sense of changing his pur- 



290 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

pose, it is easily understood. In this sense, too, it 
occurs in Paul's letter to the Hebrews. He says, "For 
you know how that afterward, when he would have 
inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found 
no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully 
with tears" (Heb. 12:17). That is, Esau was not 
able to effect a change in the purpose of his father 
Isaac, concerning the blessing of Jacob, though he care- 
fully sought to do so with tears. (See Gen. 26 : 31-38.) 
But repentance also signifies reformation, or amend- 
ment of life; and this reformation grows out of a 
change of purpose, and sorrow for the past wrongs of 
our lives. It occurs in all these senses in the follow- 
ing passage: "But what think ye? A certain man 
had two sons : and he came to the first and said, Son, 
go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and 
said, I will not; but afterward he repented and went" 
(Matt: 21 :28, 29). Here, you see, this son purposed 
in his heart not to obey his father, but afterward, upon 
reflection, he became sorry for his wickedness in say- 
ing "I will not," and he changed his purpose; and as a 
result of this, and as evidence that he was sincere, he 
reformed; that is, "he went." So it is with the sinner. 
God has been saying to him, "Go into my vineyard 
and work." But the sinner has said, "No, I will not 
go." But upon reflection, he sees the evil of his way, 
is sorry for his past sins, and this leads him to amend- 
ment, or reformation of life, and his change of 
purpose is proven by his going forward in obedience 
to the commands of God. In the sense of amendment 
of life, it often occurs in the Christian Scriptures. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 291 

Take one example : On the day of Pentecost, the three 
thousand were pierced in their hearts, and cried out 
and said, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 
"And Peter said unto them, repent/' etc. Now, 
these persons were evidently penitent — sorry for their 
past sins, which led them to inquire what they must 
do. Peter's command to them to repent was therefore 
equivalent to "Reform, amend your lives, every one 
of you." 

But there is still another view of the doctrine of 
repentance that we consider quite important. It is the 
idea of restitution. We have no confidence in any 
man's repentance who does not, as far as may be in 
his power, make restitution for any injuries he may 
have inflicted upon any one. Suppose a man has de- 
frauded his neighbor to the amount of fifty dollars, 
or any other amount, and afterward he repents; he 
will surely make restitution to his neighbor. And this 
doctrine is recognized by the Lord himself. Take an 
example: "And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the 
Lord : Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give the 
poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by 
false accusation, I restore him four-fold. And Jesus 
said unto him, This day is salvation to come to this 
house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham" 
(Luke 19 :8,9). 

Now, every one can see that a sinner that truly 
repents is converted in life. That is, his life and char- 
acter are so completely changed that he no longer 
purposes to do evil, and therefore he does not practice 
it; but he now purposes to do right, and therefore he 



292 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

breaks off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities 
by turning to the Lord. The things which he once 
loved he now hates, and loves the things which he once 
hated. He is no longer willing to continue in the 
state of sin, and he inquires, How shall I escape from 
the state of sin? 

3. A man thus converted in heart and life is pre- 
pared for a conversion of state. That is, he must be 
"translated from the kingdom of darkness into the 
kingdom of God's dear Son." How is this effected? 
I answer, by Christian immersion. Now, the audience 
will not mistake me; I do not say that Christian im- 
mersion will change the heart or life; far from it, 
indeed, unless a sinner's heart and life are changed 
or converted he is not a Scriptual subject for bap- 
tism. But what we affirm is this : The sinner who has 
believed the gospel with all his heart, repented of his 
sins, and confessed the Saviour before men, is changed, 
or converted in heart and life, and is a fit subject for 
baptism, in which ordinance he puts on Christ. As 
evidence of this, Paul says: 

"Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized 
into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?" (Rom 
6:3). And in the same connection, alluding to this 
baptism as the "form of doctrine," he says to the 
Roman brethren, "But God be thanked, that though 
you were the servants of sin, yet you have obeyed 
from the heart that form of doctrine which was deliv- 
ered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became 
the servants of righteousness." It follows, then, with 
the clearness of demonstration, that every penitent be- 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 293 

liever, who obeys from the heart the form of doctrine 
here referred to, namely, Christian immersion, puts on 
Christ, and enters into a new relation with God and 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says of every such per- 
son, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
who are in Christ Jesus," etc. (Rom. 8:1). And this 
change of relation we call a conversion of state. And 
every person who comes into this new relation has 
the promise of remission of sins. "Repent and be 
converted, that your sins may be blotted out.''' The 
phrase "be converted" comprehends all that we have 
said of the change of heart, life and state; and every 
such individual is prepared to enjoy the remission of 
sins. To prove this, we may only quote a text or two. 
"Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, 
he can not see the kingdom of God." "Not by 
works of righteousness which we have done, but ac- 
cording to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of 
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit." "That 
he might sanctify and cleanse it (the church) with 
the washing of water by the word." "For as many 
of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on 
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is 
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female ; 
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be 
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs accord- 
ing to the promise." "And why tarriest thou? Arise 
and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on 
the name of the Lord." "And Peter said unto them, 
Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you 



294 PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 

shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit/' The appli- 
cation of these Scriptures is easy, and I need not fur- 
ther elaborate this point now. 

One objection we must consider before we leave 
this part of the subject. Some persons who do not 
understand the gospel, think that we undervalue the 
blood of Christ, and place too much reliance on water. 
Now, it is only necessary that I should say, it is the 
blood of Christ that gives efficacy and virtue to faith, 
repentance and baptism. Without the blood, neither 
would secure for us the pardon of sins. "The blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanses us from all sin." 
Those whom John saw standing before the throne, 
who had come up through great tribulation, had 
"washed their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb." 

III. Every such converted person, being wholly ded- 
icated to the service of God, and sanctified in soul, body 
and spirit, enters upon the enjoyment of new privi- 
leges and blessings. They now have the privilege of 
crying "Abba, Father !" in a sense in which they dared 
not approach him before. And what a glorious privi- 
lege is this, to call God our Father. When way-worn 
and sad, persecuted and despised, to be permitted to 
come to the mercy-seat in the name of our great High 
Priest, and there present our petitions, with the divine 
assurance that we shall be heard. "Ask, and you shall 
receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall 
be opened unto you." 

We have the glorious privilege also of being asso- 
ciated with the family of God in heaven and on earth. 



PIONEER SERMONS AND ADDRESSES. 295 

All Christians are our brethren and sisters. Angels 
are our ministering spirits, and Jesus Christ is our 
elder brother. What a noble companionship! How 
honorable the station ! All children of a King, and be- 
longing to the royal family! But it is also our privi- 
lege to come to the Lord's Table, and openly publish 
our faith in his death and coming. But we have not 
time to speak of all the blessings and privileges of 
the children of God. They are blessed with all spirit- 
ual blessings in Christ Jesus, and can rejoice with joy 
which is unspeakable and full of glory. They know 
that they have passed from death unto life because 
they love the brethren. Paul speaks of the valuable 
inheritance of the Christian thus : "All are yours, 
whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or 
life or death, or things present, or things to come; all 
are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (I. 
Cor. 3:22). Again, he declares that we are heirs of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ. Indeed, all the sub- 
stantial pleasures, blessings and enjoyments of this 
life belong to the Christian, and he has the promise of 
a "crown of life" beyond the grave. In a word, "he 
is rich in faith, and an heir of the kingdom." 



(the end.) 



APR 15 1908 



